It is no longer just about declarations by Ukrainian rulers, nor about denunciations of local citizens without record or graphic proof. aerial images released this Thursday from the port town of Mariupol, the last link left for the Russian forces to conquer in order to establish that long-awaited land corridor between the annexed Crimea and the self-proclaimed pro-Russian republics of Donbas, demonstrate the terrible degree of destruction caused by the siege to which the town is being subjected, in addition to increasing the risk that this Ukrainian port, where they still reside 400,000 people, fate befall Grozny or Aleppotwo towns that were once thoroughly destroyed by similar bombardments, before being occupied by Kremlin troops or their allies.
The attack on a pediatric hospital, which occurred the day before, continues a similar pattern to what was experienced in the recent war in Syria, a conflict in which human rights NGOs have repeatedly denounced similar episodes with the aim of demoralizing the civilian population and push them to flee from their places of roots. Numerous personalities, from the President of the European Commission, Ursula von Leydeneven the French president, Emmanuel Macronthrough the director of US National Intelligence, avril haineshave unanimously condemned the incident, which reduced the building to rubble, caused at least three dead and generated some impressive images of injured pregnant women being evacuated as the snow fell.
According to few testimonies Coming from the interior, the population remains sheltered in basements, without light or heating, while the minimum living conditions have ceased to exist. “In Mariúpol, right now there is no drinking water, and there is nowhere to get it,” he denounces Oleksandr, a collaborator of Doctors Without Borders. For drinking or assuring, points to this same source, the people “look for fountains in the parks or collects the water from the roofs when the snow melts,” he continues. The aid worker affirms that those who suffer the most from the consequences of the siege are “the old people and those who have some type of disability”, because “they can’t find food or make a fire to cook or “small children, because they need many more things, such as hygiene products, and there is no way to find them”.
Last Tuesday, the municipality had denounced the death of more than 1,200 inhabitants in nine days of siege to this important port of the Sea of Azov. The municipal authorities have finally been able to start collecting and burying the corpses that had accumulated in the streets, Deputy Mayor Serhiy Orlov told the British BBC. “There is no possibility of private graves, due to the high number of people and continuous shelling. They are being put into mass graves,” he said.
humanitarian corridors
In addition, the humanitarian corridors to evacuate the civilian population from Mariupol they are still not launched due to bombing, with both contenders claiming responsibility for the failure. A week ago, the Government of Ukraine rejected and qualified “cynical” Russian proposals to establish these corridors, as they led only to territory under Kremlin control.
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Unlike recent conflicts such as those in the former Yugoslavia, where was vigorously practiced ethnic cleansing of entire communities, Moscow maintains that what his military intervention is actually seeking is to “save” the Russophone population of Ukraine from an alleged “genocide”which is why for the Kremlin it is very important to make sure you assume and manages the civilian population of the towns it conquers, preventing them from seeking refuge in territory under the control of the Ukrainian government. Be that as it may, as the Ukrainian deputy prime minister has confirmed, Irina Vereshchukno civilian was able to leave this Thursday the port city.
With this situation on the ground, it was certain that the first high-level political meeting between Ukrainian and Russian representatives will end in failure and without achieving no progress. Sergei Lavrov and Dmitry Kulebaforeign ministers of both countries, have met in Antalya, south of Turkey, for a handshake and little else. Analysts rule out Moscow accepting a ceasefire until it achieves some of its military objectives: the control of big citiesnamely, Kyiv and Kharkivand the aforementioned land corridor on the coastr.