Vladimir Putin has killed twice as many people in Mariupol than Adolf Hitler did during World War 2, the Ukrainian city's mayor has claimed.
In a grave warning to western allies, Mayor Vadym Boychenko said that the number will only increase if more pressure is not piled on the Russian President.
Boychenko is firefighting a crisis of a huge scale, with 82 days of bombardment and decomposing bodies infiltrating the water supply, thus triggering a deadly epidemic.
After months of bombardment, Ukraine ’s military said on Monday it was ending its combat mission as evacuations at the embattled Azovstal steel plant commenced.
Around 260 Ukrainian fighters were taken to Russian-held territory and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said they will exchange them for Russian prisoners of war.
Speaking with the i Newspaper, Boychenko said that the evil created by Russia in Mariupol is "even worse than Nazi Germany".
He continued: "In the Second World War, 10,000 people were killed in Mariupol in a two-year occupation. In two months of this blood-shedding war, Russia has killed more than 20,000. Putin is a bigger evil than Hitler and we must stop him.
“He will not stop at Ukraine. It is not enough for Russia. That is why we need to stop him as soon as possible so Russia cannot continue to spread its influence in Europe. We need to have our territories back.”
Putin's forces tried to take the port city before, in 2014. As a huge industrial centre and port on the Sea of Azov, Mariupol would be a huge economic coup for Russia and is also a main supply route from Rostov into southern Ukraine.
Boychenko spoke of the fear civilians face daily, along with no electricity or gas, nor food. But the biggest problem now, he says, "is with the drinking water."
Bodies are littered across the city, causing the soil to get poisoned, eventually getting into underground water and into rivers and the sea.
He continued by saying weather is getting warmer and, according to the estimates of doctors, the city can expect contagious diseases that will take thousands of lives.
The Russians wheeled out similar tactics in Mariupol to those used in Syria. Troops repeatedly hit hospitals and bullied civilians into evacuating after targeting shelters and evacuation corridors.
Once the city was mostly cleared the Russians could then focus all efforts against the defenders and pushing them into a last stronghold.
The situation in Mariupol is bleak — Boychenko saying there are also no medical facilities and the council has warned that cholera, dysentery and E.coli could spread as temperatures creep up and thousands of bodies lie slain among the rubble.
He said the occupiers claim they are a competent authority but they don’t understand what they are doing.
And he added that it will take up to two years to restore the gas and water.
