Mariupol under blockade: the enemy practically took 400,000 Ukrainians prisoners

Mazurenko Alyona – Sunday 6 March 2022, 00:12

The Russian occupying forces who disrupted the evacuation in Mariupol practically took the entire city prisoners.

Source: the city mayor of Mariupol Vadym Boichenko on the Ukrainian television

Verbatim: "Mariupol is under a blockade for not one day; residential areas are being shelled non-stop for six days, infrastructure is being destroyed, there are many casualties, and there are many people whom we won’t see again. 

We are being killed as a nation. We are being destroyed as the people of Ukraine. The Russian occupying forces have positioned on the perimeter of the city and been shelling the residential neighborhoods with various forbidden weapons. We have been waiting today for a "green corridor".

As a mayor I received an order to prepare transport and locations for the evacuation of civilians. At this point, as we proceeded, the enemy Russian forces violated the regime of silence and began shelling. Miraculously people were not injured, but the equipment was damaged. We need safety guarantees. The shelling has been ongoing for 6 days. We hope that today’s negotiations will result in a corridor. We are doing everything possible from our side."

Details: He noted that Mariupol – a city of 400,000 people – was under control of the Russian occupying forces. According to him, the enemy left the city without water and electricity. 

At the same time, he said that there were ongoing negotiations at the highest level to agree on a "green corridor" for Mariupol. 

Background:

• The Russian army promised a ceasefire from 9am on 5 March to open two humanitarian corridors for evacuation of the civilian population of Mariupol and Volnovakha towards Zaporizhzhya. The evacuation was planned to take several days following the established route from 11:00 to 16:00. 

• However, eventually the Russian side violated the agreement about the "green corridor" and began shelling; the evacuation was postponed and people were told to go home.