Some 400,000 people are taking shelter across the besieged city of Mariupol - the once lively port subjected to ruthless bombardment from Russian artillery for almost two weeks.
Terrified Ukrainian civilians, taking cover in the basements and bunkers of hollowed-out buildings, are now in the grips of food, electricity and water shortages amid the constant shelling.
According to Ukrainian authorities, about 90 per cent of Mariupol’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed.
Drone footage has now captured the extent of the Russian destruction - a scene described by the Red Cross as “apocalyptic.” The videos show tower blocks reduced to rubble.
A small number of people and several vehicles roam the wreckages. But out of shot are the tens of thousands of civilians trapped underground in the imperiled coastal city.
“We are under constant mortar shelling, and one of the shells hit our church. There are 200 of us living here,” Yuri*, a Mariupol resident, told The Independent’s Bel Trew last weekend, while taking shelter in his devastated hometown.
“It’s hell here. Imagine 200 people sitting in one room for two days. We can’t even breathe fresh air.
“I can’t go out into the street, because [shrapnel] fragments are flying everywhere and machine-gun fire is constant. There is shooting every two minutes.”
Mariupol has been subject to some of the most brutal Russian attacks since Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine on 24 February - the bombing of a theatre capturing international attention in particular.
At least 130 people have been rescued from the theatre, according to officials who warned that more than a thousand civilians were still trapped.
Ludmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner, said Friday that 130 people had survived the theatre bombing.
“As of now, we know that 130 people have been evacuated, but according to our data, there are still more than 1,300 people in these basements, in this bomb shelter,” Denisova told broadcasters on Friday.
“We pray that they will all be alive, but so far there is no information about them.”
Rescue efforts have been hindered by the complete breakdown of social services in the city and fears of future Russian attacks, the former head of the Donetsk region told broadcasters.
“People are doing everything themselves. My friends went to help, but due to constant shelling it was not safe. People are clearing away the rubble themselves,” Serhiy Taruta said.
“There is no rescue operation, because the services that are supposed to rescue people, to treat them, to bury them, these services no longer exist.”
Among the countless attacks faced by Mariupol was the shelling of a maternity and children’s hospital.
At least 17 people were wounded including women in labour and staff, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The city council said the damage was “colossal”.
There have been several attempts to evacuate trapped residents from the besieged city, but efforts have faced frequent postponement - with Russia and Ukraine blaming one another for the failures.
It comes as Interfax cited a senior official as saying a total of 3,810 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities through humanitarian corridors on Thursday
About 2,000 of those people had left Mariupol, Ukrainian deputy PM Iryna Vereshchuk told a briefing.
More than 3.2 million people have fled Ukraine, according to the United Nations, which has warned of the deteriorating humanitarian situation within the country.
Many grocery shops and warehouses in Ukraine are now empty as food supply chains are “falling apart”, a World Food Programme (WFP) official said.
Supplies are running out in “encircled cities” such as Mariupol, Jakob Kern – WFP emergency coordinator for the Ukraine crisis – said.
*Names of some of those who spoke to The Independent have been changed to protect their identity
The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015.
Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered.
To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.
