Mariupol “is hell”
Rescuers search for dead and survivors in theater rubble
03/18/2022, 08:47 am
Even on the second day after the bombing of the theater in Mariupol, the number of victims is still unclear. Some people could have left the shelters, it said. But the rescuers suspect hundreds of people trapped – including many dead.
The number of victims of the bomb attack on the theater in Mariupol is still unclear. The building’s bomb shelter survived the shelling and some “adults and children” escaped alive, according to Lyudmila Denisova, the human rights commissioner in the Ukrainian parliament. The work to gain access to the basement continued. It is estimated that around 1,000 people had sought shelter in the theater basement.
Ukrainian MP Sergiy Taruta said Russia’s blockade of the city is hampering rescue efforts. Some people would have made it out of the destroyed theater. But the others “who survived the bombardment will die under the rubble of the theater or are already dead”.
According to Ukrainian sources, Russia bombed the theater in Mariupol on Wednesday, despite the fact that the word “Children” was clearly written in Russian on the floor on either side of the building. Russia has denied the attack, blaming the nationalist Ukrainian Azov Brigade, as it did last week for the attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol.
Because of Russia’s siege of Mariupol, the information cannot be independently verified. The shelling of the theater sparked international outrage. China, which has not yet condemned Russia’s war against Ukraine, also opposed the shelling.
US President Joe Biden plans to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping about Beijing’s stance on the conflict this Friday. According to his Foreign Minister Antony Blinken, Biden wants to warn Xi about the “costs” that supporting “Russia’s aggression” would entail for the People’s Republic. Rather, China should use its influence to end the war.
“Dead bodies lie in the streets”
Mariupol in eastern Ukraine is particularly under fire. According to authorities, more than 2,000 people have died there since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24. “The bodies of many dead civilians lie in the streets,” said 58-year-old Tamara Kavunenko after fleeing Mariupol. “It’s not Mariupol anymore. It’s hell.”
According to Ukrainian data, during negotiations to end the war on Thursday, Russia agreed to the creation of nine humanitarian corridors. An escape route from Mariupol should also be set up.
The Ukrainian government listed a kindergarten and a market in Kharkiv as the latest targets of the Russian attacks. Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted in a video message late Thursday evening that the situation in some of the country’s cities was “difficult”. But “we will not abandon you and we will not forgive you,” assured the President. “You will be free.”