The devestation caused by Vlladimir Putin’s forces in the besieged city of Mariupol is similar to that seen in Nazi concentration camps, the city’s mayor said on Wednesday.
The bombardment has turned the area “into a death camp”, Vadym Boychenko said, as comminication links have been destroyed and food and water supplies are unable to get in.
Russian forces are reportedly using mobile crematoriums to erase the evidence of was crimes, according to Mariupol City Council.
“The scale of the tragedy in Mariupol the world has not seen since the times of Nazi concentration camps,” the Kyiv Independent reported Mr Boychenko as saying.
Putin’s army is deliberately inflicting a “worsening” humanitarian disaster on 160,000 people in Mariupol to force Ukrainian forces to surrender, British defence chiefs have suggested.
They warned of the appalling conditions in the southern port city on the Azov Sea where residents are struggling to survive with “no light, communication, medicine, heat or water”.
Some civilians are feared to have starved to death, and thousands to have been killed by Russian shelling and air strikes.
After the horrors of executions, torture and rape revealed in Bucha, near Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities are expecting to discover more atrocities having been committed by Russian troops in other towns and cities.
A Ukrainian human rights ombudswoman reported that between 150 and 300 bodies may be in a mass grave by a church in Bucha.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in Ukraine, calling images of the dead in Bucha that have shocked the world a “monstrous forgery”.
In its latest intelligence update, the Ministry of Defence said: “Fighting and Russian air strikes have continued in Mariupol. The humanitarian situation is worsening. Russian forces have prevented humanitarian access, likely to pressure defenders to surrender.”
It comes as authorities in the eastern region of Luhansk urged civilians to evacuate while it is safe, warning that Russian bombardments could cut off escape routes.
Putin’s troops are believed to be regrouping and preparing for a new offensive in the Donbas area, which includes Luhansk. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said they aimed to open 11 humanitarian corridors today to evacuate civilians.
Luhansk region governor Serhiy Gaidai added: “We will take everyone out if the Russians allow us to get to the meeting places. I appeal to every resident of the Luhansk region — evacuate while it is safe.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky remained defiant. In a post on the Telegram messaging app, he said: “The fate of our land and our people is being decided. We know what we are fighting for. And we do everything to win.”
