The port city of Mariupol, besieged by Russian troops, it has food to last three more days, before its inhabitants begin to starve. And while that day arrives, which could be this weekend, according to the local media and the testimonies, the first mass graves have been seen in all the international media.
Hundreds of dead, both civilian and military, many of the injured will be left with serious physical, not to mention psychological, consequences and the destruction of much of Ukraine’s urban, historical and economic infrastructure.
From 24 Feb—9 March, we recorded 1,506 civilian casualties in context of Russia’s armed attack against #ukraine: 549 killed, including 41 children; 957 injured, including 52 children, mostly caused by shelling & airstrikes. Actual toll is much higher. full update https://t.co/tZAAjKOTEU pic.twitter.com/pcZnGhQ2uq
— UNHumanRightsUkraine (@UNHumanRightsUA) March 10, 2022
The mass graves of Mariupol
An image that is not internationally recognized ceases to be less impressive. Ukrainian citizens leaving bodies in mass graves wrapped in plastic or blankets, in a makeshift ditch located on the outskirts of the city, since it is almost impossible to do another type of burial in the face of the military offensive.
Mariupol has become the symbol of horror. Its conquest is key to Russia’s aspirations to unite the Crimean peninsula with the rebel territories of Donbass. Civilian evacuation plans have advanced very slowly.
According to Reuters, just yesterday the humanitarian convoy on its way to Mariupol had to stop and turn around. Mariupol is a city of 400,000 inhabitants that has been completely surrounded for more than a week. No electricity, no water, no heating.
And one of the latest actions of the Russian Army has been bomb a maternity. Images with women about to give birth broken by the pain of not knowing if the next movement is a pump, a contraction or if your baby is not coming, or cannot come. The images of smashed incubators and vandalized nursery wards are heart-wrenching.
At least three people have died, including a child, and 17 others have been injured as a result of the bombing of the hospital, according to a balance of victims released today by the Ukrainian authorities.
The City Council has accused Russian forces of deliberately destroying civilian infrastructure in Mariupol, according to the UNIAN agency. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack an “atrocity” and has insisted on calling for a no-fly zone. Just this week the president said that a child had died of dehydration.