Status: 04/28/2022 15:32
Mariupol city council warns of a cholera outbreak as a result of heavy fighting. Meanwhile, Russian attacks on the Azovstal steelworks continue. The trapped soldiers urgently called for help.
Ukrainian authorities have sounded the alarm over unsanitary conditions in the war-torn port city of Mariupol. The conditions pose a deadly threat, the city council said on Telegram, warning that “deadly epidemics could erupt in the city due to the lack of a central water and sewage system, thousands of bodies rotting under the rubble and a catastrophic shortage of drinking water and water supply prevails food.”
100,000 people remaining in Mariupol could be at risk of contracting cholera or dysentery. In the Telegram post, Mayor Vadym Boychenko was quoted as saying that “the invaders are unable to provide food, water and medicine to the remaining population – or simply not interested”. He said that living conditions in Mariupol are now medieval, “an immediate and complete evacuation is required”.
Before the war, the city had a population of around 450,000. After weeks of fierce fighting, the Russian army now controls the city on the Sea of Azov. Many buildings and infrastructure were destroyed in the fighting and by artillery fire and air strikes.
conflicting parties as source
Information on the course of the war, bombing and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent body in the current situation.
Satellite images show attacks on steel mills
Meanwhile, Russian forces apparently continued to bomb Mariupol. New satellite images show violent attacks on the industrial facilities of the steelmaker Azovstal. Images from Planet Labs show that a central building in the sprawling complex was seriously damaged by bombing.
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC show steel mills in trouble in Mariupol. Image: dpa
Dramatic appeal for help
The Ukrainian Azov regiment trapped in the steelworks made a dramatic appeal to the Kiev government for help: “I ask the political-military leadership to take decisive measures to break the blockade or evacuate all who are in it. Deputy Commander Svyatoslav Palamar in a video message.
Palamar said fighters are increasingly wondering why Kiev is not keeping its promises. “Who can answer that: why are we alone against artillery, ships and planes?” According to Ukrainian sources, in addition to several fighters, there are also around 1,000 civilians in the bunkers below the plant.
“We will fight as long as it takes”
In a videoconference interview with Reuters, Palamar said: “Of course our resources are not infinite and are becoming scarcer with each day of intense combat. The situation is difficult, but we will fight as long as it takes.” You would still have hundreds of fighters. There are more than 500 wounded fighters, some in a serious condition: “We don’t have the resources to treat them and carry out really difficult operations. Medicines, bandages, food and water are running out.”
According to the Ukrainian governor of the Donetsk region, Russia wants to capture the remaining militants at the Azovstal steelworks. That’s why the Russians are not ready to evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers, for example, said Pavlo Kyrylenko.