“Not everything is in our power,” Mayor Vadym Boichenko told CNN on Monday. “Unfortunately, we are in the hands of the conquerors today.” Boichenko said less than half of the city’s peaceful population remained. “According to our estimates, about 160,000 people are currently in the besieged city of Mariupol, where it is impossible to live because there is no water, electricity, heat, connection,” he said. “And it’s really scary.” The apparent loss of Mariupol comes after almost a month of heavy bombardment and days of hard fighting. The southern port on the Sea of Azov has been the target of Russian ambitions since the invasion began last month, as part of an effort to link Russian forces in Crimea with forces in the Donbas separatist region to form a united front. in the south of Ukraine. Along the way, the Kremlin has cut off the city from electricity, water and food, while bombing it from land and sea. Alina Beskrovna, a resident of Mariupol who escaped from the city in a car and arrived in Poland, said that people in the city melted snow for water and cooked in open fire despite the risk of bombing, “because if not, you will not have nothing to eat. “ “Unfortunately, we are in the hands of the conquerors today.” said the mayor of Mariupol Vadym Boichenko. REUTERSA banner saying “kids” in Russian and #savemariupol can be seen at the entrance to the Slowaskiego Theater. Getty Images A girl walks in the courtyard of an apartment building destroyed during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port of Mariupol REUTERS “A lot of people just, I think, are starving to death in their apartments right now without help,” he said. “It’s a mass murder at the hands of the Russians.” The Russian actions in Mariupol have provoked strong condemnation from the international community. A maternity hospital was destroyed in a Russian air raid on Mariupol earlier this month. A resident of the area is transporting items from his house damaged. REUTERS Nearly 160,000 people are currently in the besieged city of Mariupol. REUTERS About 300 people were killed a week later when Russian forces bombed a theater used as a civilian refuge. The theater was marked with large letters that write “children” in Russian. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinkin cited both attacks when he blamed Russian forces for war crimes last week. The apparent fall of Mariupol comes after a series of successes by Ukrainian forces, who claim to have retaken suburbs around the capital Kiev as well as Trostyanets, a city south of Sumy in the northeast of the country. Ukrainian forces also dismantled Russian control of Kherson, north of the Crimean peninsula, last week, although it is unclear whether Ukrainian forces have taken full control of the city. With Post cables
