Fields of ruins, shell craters, mountains of rubble, in between desperate people: 440,000 residents in Mariupol on the Azov Sea are still surrounded by the Russian army.
There is a lack of food, there is hardly any water, no electricity. 200,000 people want to get out of the city, but there are no guarantees for safe escape routes.
Deputy Mayor of Mariupol Sergei Olov told a news agency: “Our city no longer exists.” Women, children and the elderly are buried in mass graves – images of the consequences of the Russian war of aggression went around the world.
In Mariupol alone, 1,582 civilians were killed, and many more suffered serious injuries from artillery fire.
Attacks on civilians were also reported from Kharkiv and Oskil, and there are said to be numerous fatalities in these places as well.
A heated debate has erupted on social media platforms about this barbaric warfare: Many users believe that Vladimir Putin should be held responsible for these war crimes – others, however, believe that these civilian deaths are “collateral damage” in a large, conventionally conducted military conflict would have to be seen. And: The Ukrainian government would even take advantage of this situation to be able to influence public opinion in its favor.
