Mariupol mayor reports over 5,000 civilian deaths in Russian attack

• Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said that Russian forces have killed over 5,000 civilians since invading the city.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian troops of blocking humanitarian aid into the city until they cover up their crimes.
• Zelensky added that he had asked French President Emmanuel Macron to provide help to those trapped in Mariupol as well as support for investigations into Russia’s crimes against Ukraine.

Russian forces have killed over 5,000 civilians (210 of whom were children) in Mariupol since they took control of the city, Mayor Vadym Boichenko said on Wednesday. Mariupol had a population of 400,000 before Russia’s invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he had talked to French President Emmanuel Macron to ask for help for those trapped in Mariupol, as well as support for investigations into Russia’s crimes against Ukraine.

In an interview with Turkey’s Habertürk Television, Zelensky accused Russians of blocking humanitarian aid into the city so they can cover up their crimes.

Last week, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told Ukrainian news agency Unian that Russian forces have been blocking buses headed to Mariupol to evacuate civilians and capturing Ukrainian trucks delivering aid to the besieged city.

According to an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team, they tried to reach the city but had to turn around because of inadequate security protections for rescuers. It later managed to transport around 1,000 civilians safely to Zaporizhzhia, a government-controlled Ukrainian city located roughly 128 miles to the north.

Pascal Hundt, head of ICRC’s delegation in Ukraine, told Associated Press that the team’s evacuation plans have been hindered by conditions on the humanitarian route to Mariupol.

He explained that there have been checkpoints that take a lot of time, as well as a curfew in the evening. He added, “It took us five days to do that operation. … You can imagine the difficulties we faced.”

Mariupol made headlines when a theater housing civilians was bombed by a Russian airstrike, despite being marked with large white letters that read “CHILDREN” in Russian. “Several bombs” were also dropped on a children’s hospital, killing three people, including a 6-year-old girl.

Zelensky lamented how Mariupol was “reduced to ashes” and referred to the attacks as “a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come.”

U.S. President Joe Biden denounced Russia’s “major war crimes” against Ukraine after horrifying scenes showed bodies of “executed people” discovered in Bucha after Russian forces withdrew from the city.

A new sanctions package was imposed on Russia’s institutions and officials’ family members, including President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters.

Source: Aol.com