The deputy mayor of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol says people are starting to die from starvation and dehydration, as food and water supplies run low and no humanitarian aid is allowed in, APA reports citing BBC.
“Some are dying from dehydration and lack of food. Some are dying from lack of medicine, insulin... Because people cannot find medical help,” Sergey Orlov tells the BBC.
“Some mothers do not have milk, and they don't have food for children. What should they do with their infants? I don’t know. There’s no food for children at all in the city.”
Mariupol has been under relentless Russian attacks since the early days of the war, and pictures show a city in ruins, with entire neighbourhoods destroyed. Orlov says 70% of hospitals in the city have been “destroyed by bombing and shelling”.
Communication with the city is difficult, as the phone network is intermittent, so it is hard to independently verify information. Residents spend most of their time in shelters or basements with no electricity, running water, or gas.
“People are just looking for any possibility to survive. [They] share food, water, they’re collecting wood to cook in the street,” Orlov says.
More than 100,000 people remain trapped in Mariupol. Efforts to carry out large-scale evacuations have failed, although thousands have managed to leave in recent days in private vehicles.
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