MARIUPOL, 23 Mar: Heavy bombardments by Russian artillery continued on Wednesday as the port city of Mariupol was partially occupied by Russian soldiers.
Reuters reported that an estimated 100,000 people are still trapped in Mariupol despite agreed humanitarian corridors by both Ukrainian and Russian officials.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister, Iryna Vereschuk, told local news outlets that it was an agreed corridor that had been agreed with the Red Cross, but the people were being held hostage.
“It is reported that the vehicles will be taken away, and people may or may not be let free,” she said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on the matter as he accused Russian forces of disrupting evacuation attempts in the city.
“As of today, there are about 100,000 people in the city in inhuman conditions, completely blockaded, without food, water, and medicine due to the constant bombardment,” he said.
The capture of Mariupol is the top priority of the Russian invaders to fulfil their occupation of Eastern Ukraine.
The city was once a thriving trading port that saw exports of grain, iron, and steel, mainly destined to nearby European countries.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, a total of 13 civilian deaths were confirmed throughout the country, with dozens injured after being caught in crossfire.
Russia still denied targeting civilians despite numerous reports of its soldiers imposing and carrying out earlier threats.
It was also reported on Monday that Boris Romantschenko, a 96-year-old Nazi holocaust survivor, was killed by an artillery blast near his Kharkiv apartment.
His death was met with such grief as Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said, “Putin managed to ‘accomplish’ what even Hitler couldn’t.”
The threat of chemical weapons was also brought up yesterday as United States (US) President Joe Biden speculated that Russian forces, if desperate, would likely turn to biological and chemical weapons to turn the tide of the Ukrainian war.
In spite of talks about welcoming Ukrainian refugees, reports showed only seven Ukrainian refugees had been admitted into the US from March 1-16.
Biden’s administration said it would come up with further plans to ease the process of the refugee intake.
Four Ukrainian children had also made it to the US for further cancer treatment which was disrupted after Russia’s invasion last month.
US Secretary Antony Blinken tweeted, “Children are among the most vulnerable in a crisis. We are humbled to help airlift four Ukrainian pediatric oncology patients in need of urgent, highly specialised treatment to @StJudeResearch. These kids will safely resume critical cancer therapy disrupted by Russia’s aggression.” – TVS
