The mayor of Mariupol made a dramatic appeal for the evacuation of the residents of Mariupol on Monday, announcing that the city is “in the hands of the conquerors” After the brutal Russian siege that leveled the city, it left an unknown number of civilians dead, and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.
“Not everything depends on us,” Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boichenko told CNN in a live television interview. “Unfortunately today we are in the hands of the conquerors.”
Boichenko called for the complete evacuation of the remaining population of Mariupol, which had a population of more than 400,000, before Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February. 24.
“According to our estimates, about 160,000 people are currently in the besieged city of Mariupol, where it is impossible to live because there is no water, electricity, heat, communication,” he said. “And it’s really scary.”
Ukrainian officials have claimed that Russian forces prevented humanitarian convoys from approaching or leaving the city safely. A pro-Russian separatist leader said on Sunday that about 1,700 Mariupol residents were being “evacuated” daily from the city and its environs, but Ukrainian officials said the Russians were in fact carrying out what they described as the violent displacement of thousands of Russians.
“We need a complete evacuation of Mariupol “, said Boichenko. “Our most important mission today is to save every life … And there are hopes that we will succeed. For example, there are 26 buses that have to go to Mariupol to evacuate, but unfortunately they have not been allowed to move. And this game is played every day. A cynical game like ‘Yes, we’re ready. You can go there, but nothing really happens. Our heroic guides under the fire try to reach the places where the inhabitants of Mariupol can be missed, and
are waiting in the hope that they will have such an opportunity. “But the Russian Federation has been playing with us since day one.”
Statistics released by Ukrainian officials on Sunday show a bleak picture of the outcome of the bombings and fighting in Mariupol.
According to these data, 90% of the residential buildings in the city were damaged, of which 60% were immediately hit and 40% were destroyed.
Seven of the city’s hospitals –90% of the bed capacity of the city– suffered damage, three of which were destroyed. Three maternity hospitals (with one damaged), seven higher education institutions (with three damaged) and 57 schools and 70 kindergartens, with 23 schools and 28 kindergartens damaged also suffered damage.
Many factories were damaged and the city’s port was damaged.
A representative of the city mayor spoke about 5,000 dead, with 90% of the buildings in the city to have been damaged and 40% to have been destroyed. According to official statistics, up to 140,000 people fled the city before the siege and about 150,000 managed to flee during the blockade. During the escalation of the siege, about 170,000 people remained in the city and Ukrainian officials claim that 30,000 people from Mariupol were displaced to Russia.
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