“I think they fear that the world will see what is happening there until everything is ‘cleaned’ by Russian soldiers,” says the Ukrainian president.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of blocking humanitarian access to the city of Mariupol, which has been under siege for weeks, to cover up “thousands” of victims. “I think they are afraid that the world will see what is happening there until everything is ‘cleaned up’ by Russian soldiers,” Zelensky said in an interview on Wednesday with Turkish TV channel Habertürk, which his office posted online.
Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, has been cut off from all supplies for weeks and is under heavy fire from Russian forces. The situation in the city is catastrophic. Previous coordinated attempts to evacuate the city have failed. However, some residents managed to escape on their own. Zelensky said he assumed “thousands of people would be killed” in Mariupol. However, the Russian military was unable to keep the number of victims secret indefinitely. “You can’t hide a number like that.”
Lyudmyla Denisova, human rights commissioner in the Ukrainian parliament, citing testimonies, said Russian troops have “mobile incinerators” and “macerators” at their disposal to dispose of the bodies. She posted a photo on Telegram that was supposed to show such an incinerator on a semi-trailer. The authenticity of the image could not be independently confirmed.
Russia continued its attacks on Mariupol on Wednesday, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said this week that about 90% of the city has been completely destroyed since the Russian attacks began.
Mariupol City Council corrects death toll upwards
The Mariupol City Council on Wednesday corrected previous estimates of the number of deaths in the city. So far, at least 5,000 deaths have been reported. However, given the size of the city and the length of the lockdown, “there could have been tens of thousands of civilian casualties,” the city council told Telegram.
In a garage on the outskirts of Kiev hostomel According to Ukrainian information, eleven bodies were found. Police discovered them on Wednesday, Ukrainian newspaper Ukrajinska Pravda reported on Thursday night, citing a telegram entry by former Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. Thus, the dead are considered civilians. They say they were killed by Russian soldiers. The information could not be independently verified.
Hostomel, northwest of the capital Kiev, with the airfield nearby, was heavily contested from the start of the war. Most of the original 16,000 residents fled. A few days ago, Ukrainian troops regained control of Hostomel, as well as neighboring towns. bushing and irpin accepted.
Kharkiv mayor tries to calm down
After Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk feared a new Russian offensive in the east of the country, people in the areas luhansk, donetsk and Kharkov to flee, the mayor of Kharkiv tries to calm them down. Neither he nor the military currently consider it necessary to carry out a centralized evacuation of the country’s second-largest city, Ihor Terekhov said in a video message posted on Telegram late on Wednesday.
The city of Kharkiv is well-armed and ready for defense, the mayor said. Whether one wants to leave the city in view of the ongoing bombing is up to each individual. The evacuation order applies to Losowa and Barvinkove districts in the Kharkiv region, he said. These are south of Kharkiv, near the Donbass. The military there expected the military situation to deteriorate.
(APA/AFP/dpa/Red.)