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The war between Russia and Ukraine enters its 26th day with new reports of attacks in areas occupied by civilians. News of bombings and the use of missiles has grown in recent days, and one city concentrates some of the most emblematic scenes and accounts of the horror of this conflict for the population: Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine.
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Maternity: on 9.mar, bombs hit a hospital with children and pregnant women. At least three people died, including a pregnant woman whose image of her rescue on a stretcher went around the world. Officially, Russia denies the attack;
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Theater: on Wednesday (16), a theater that housed thousands of displaced people, according to local authorities, was attacked. Ukraine said it had rescued 130 people. Moscow denies the attack;
About 80% of the houses in the port city were destroyed. Of the estimated 400,000 inhabitants before the start of the war, half remain in the city, hidden in basements and without access to light, water or food.
The fate of the population is at the center of a new impasse between the two warring countries.
On Sunday, the government of Volodymyr Zelensky refused Russia’s ultimatum to hand over the port city. Moscow demands the surrender of residents to stop the attacks and open a humanitarian corridor that allows their escape.
Vladimir Putin’s government, which has invaded the neighboring country, says Kiev is creating obstacles to progress in peace talks and denies it is attacking civilians.
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According to the UN, at least 925 civilians died and 1,496 were injured from causes directly related to the conflict in just over three weeks;
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The number must be even higher, as many casualties could not be counted due to the destruction of the sites and the siege by the troops.
New weapons: It was also against Mariupol that the Russians possibly used their thermobaric rocket system for the first time, a type of non-nuclear weapon considered the most destructive in their arsenal. Videos of the TOS-1A launch were released by pro-Russian separatists in the region.
Refuge: A children’s hospital in Zaporijia has become the main refuge for civilians in the Mariupol region. Envoy André Liohn followed the routine of the place, which received children in serious condition and uses barricades with sandbags to prevent shrapnel from reaching doctors and patients.
Do not get lost
Why is Mariupol a strategic city for Russia? We present three reasons:
- Hall: Located in southeastern Ukraine, the city is in Donetsk province, one of the separatist regions recognized by Putin before the war. Russia wants to create a bridge between this region (the Donbass) and the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014.
- exports: The city is a gateway to the Sea of ​​Azov, one of Ukraine’s two maritime trade access points, explains columnist Mathias Alencastro. Controlling that outlet and the Ukrainian Black Sea ports would put Russia in charge of about 30% of the world’s wheat production.
- Extremism: The Azov Battalion, a nationalist and neo-Nazi group that trained civilians before the war to fight the Russians, is also in the region. The “denazification” of Ukrainian territory is one of Putin’s alleged goals for the invasion.
What happened this Monday (21)
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Russia banned Facebook and Instagram after branding platforms as extremists;
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Kremlin summoned US ambassador to show disapproval of Biden’s speeches against Putin;
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Zelensky said that any agreement with Russia would have to go through a referendum;
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Foundation disclosed that 96-year-old Holocaust survivor died in bombing.
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