“Not everything is in our power,” Mayor Vadym Boichenko said in a live television interview. “Unfortunately, today we are in the hands of the occupying forces.”
Boichenko called for a full evacuation of the remaining population of Mariupol, where more than 400,000 people lived, before Russia launched its February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
“According to our estimates, today there are about 160,000 people in the besieged city of Mariupol, where it is impossible to live because there is no water, no electricity, no heating, no connection,” he said. “And it’s really scary.”
It was unclear if there was still active fighting in the city.
Ukrainian officials have claimed Russian forces prevented humanitarian convoys from safely approaching or leaving the city.
A pro-Russian separatist leader said Sunday that about 1,700 Mariupol residents were being “evacuated” from the city and its environs every day. However, Ukrainian officials say thousands are being forcibly “deported” to Russia.
“We need a full evacuation from Mariupol,” said Boichenko. “Our most important mission today is to save every life… And there are hopes that we will be successful. For example, there are 26 buses that have to go to Mariupol to evacuate, but unfortunately they have not received permission to move,” he said.
“And that game is played every day. A cynical game like, ‘Yes, we’re ready. You can go there,’ but actually it doesn’t work,” he said. “Our heroic drivers under fire are trying to reach the places where residents of Mariupol can be picked up and they are waiting, hoping 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 paint a bleak picture of the aftermath of weeks of shelling and urban fighting in Mariupol.
About 90% of the city’s residential buildings were damaged, the data shows. Of these, 60% were hit directly and 40% were destroyed.
Seven hospitals in the city – 90% of the city’s hospital capacity – were damaged, three of which were destroyed. Also damaged were three maternity hospitals (one destroyed), seven colleges (three destroyed) and 57 schools and 70 kindergartens, of which 23 and 28 were destroyed respectively.
A number of factories were damaged and the city’s port sustained damage.
According to these official statistics, up to 140,000 people left the city before it was surrounded and about 150,000 managed to leave the city during the blockade. Ukrainian officials claim 30,000 people from Mariupol have been deported to Russia.