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More than 2,100 residents of Ukraine's besieged port city of

by Hattie Tedesco (2022-07-17)


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More than 2,100 residents of Ukraine's besieged port city of Mariupol have been killed since hostilities began, the local authorities said today.

Russian shelling of this Ukrainian port city of 430,000 has been relentless, and the number of those who have died since the siege began has increased by 600 since the last count before yesterday's onslaught.

Putin's forces hammered the city's downtown area on Saturday, as 400,000 residents remained in hiding - many of them in freezing conditions with no food or water.  

'As of today, 2,187 Mariupol residents have died from attacks by Russia,' the city council posted on Telegram. 

'People are in a serious situation for 12 days.

There is no electricity, water, or heat in the city, there is almost no mobile communication, and the last supplies of food and water are running out.'

One man wrote online: 'Putin's scum killed my daughter in Mariupol today, saving us from the "evil Bandera" and "returning to the bosom of the Slavic peoples and the Russian world."'

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They added around 100 aerial bombs have been dropped on the city. The bombing of a maternity and children's hospital wounded 17 on Wednesday and prompted international condemnation. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced humanitarian aid will reach the Mariupol this afternoon. 

A convoy of supplies was spotted travelling yesterday into Mariupol protected by a group of Orthodox priests, who bravely used their religious appearance in the hope that Russian soldiers would be less likely to fire on them. 

The Orthodox clergy members are said to have volunteered to accompany the convoy, which carried 90 tonnes of food and medicine, from nearby Zaporizhzhia and planned to safely evacuate civilians on their return, .

Women and children sit on the floor of a corridor in a hospital in Mariupol while hiding from unrelenting shelling outside Emergency responders help people being evacuated from Mariupol as it faces an onslaught from Russian forces Debris of destroyed buildings litter the streets of Mariupol as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues with heavy shelling  A large explosion is seen at an apartment building on Friday after an Russian army tank fired in MariupolA second video shows the damage done to city, which is located on the Sea of Azov, as a driver explores its deserted streets.The clip shows how some bombed-out complexes have been reduced to a shell , while the facades of several other buildings show clear damage from shelling.Satellite images from yesterday also show the scale of the in Mariupol, with multiple fires in the industrial Primorskyi districtThe videos emerged today as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that humanitarian aid is expected to arrive in Mariupol this afternoon, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said. In his address, Zelenskyy said that Mariupol was the government's first priority for aid, as 400,000 people remain trapped in the city without food and water. more videos Ukrainian serviceman guards his position. Mariupol has been under siege for over a week, with no electricity, gas or water Firefighters extinguish a fire on a house after heavy shelling yesterdayThe president said delays has been caused due to the 'complexity' of the route, which had led to supplies convoy being held overnight in nearby Berdyansk - a city also on the Sea of Azov, located 47 miles west of Mariupol.  Among those who are trapped, there are said to be 3,000 babies and 50,000 children, according to officialsRussian forces yesterday bombed a mosque in Mariupol harbouring over 80 people. The Ukrainian embassy in Turkey stated that 86 Turkish nationals, including 34 children, were among the people sheltering inside the mosque.

Although it is unknown whether there were casualties.The Ukrainian military tweeted: 'The mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxolana (Hurrem Sultan) in Mariupol was shelled by Russian invaders.'  Satellite images from yesterday also show the scale of the devastation in Mariupol, with multiple fires in the industrial Primorskyi district A fire burns at an apartment building in Mariupol after it was hit by shelling Mariana Vishegirskaya stands outside a maternity hospital that was damaged by shelling on Wednesday.

Vishegirskaya survived the shelling and later gave birth to a girl in another hospital in Mariupol RELATED ARTICLES



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Other repeated attempts to bring food to Mariupol and evacuate civilians have been cancelled due to ongoing Russian fire. The unceasing shelling has even interrupted efforts to bury the dead in mass graves.A Ukrainian official said Russian soldiers blocked one humanitarian convoy headed for Mariupol yesterday and stole from another.Doctors Without Borders said some residents are dying for lack of medication, with the city without drinking water or medicine for over a week now. An Associated Press journalist witnessed tanks firing on a nine-story apartment block in Mariupol and was with a group of medical workers who came under sniper fire on Friday. Conditions at a local hospital there were deteriorating, electricity was reserved for operating tables and the hallways were lined with people with nowhere else to go.Anastasiya Erashova wept and trembled as she held a sleeping child.

Shelling had just killed her other child as well as her brother's child. 'No one was able to save them,' she said. more videos A Ukrainian serviceman walks near the position he was guarding in Mariupol yesterday Parks and outdoor facilities in Mariupol were reduced to scorched earth yesterday as Russian invaders 'hammered' the cityThe aid group says people are resorting to boiling water from the ground or extracted from heating pipes.Ukraine's military said Russian forces captured Mariupol's eastern outskirts. Taking Mariupol and other ports on the Azov Sea would be strategic for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as it could allow Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014.<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news" data-version="2" id="mol-9ed8d860-a2be-11ec-b4cf-098b7c9af5d6" website than 2,100 civilians killed in Putin's attack on Mariupol