After a siege spanning several weeks, the mayor of Mariupol said that the Ukrainian port city now lies “in the hands of the occupiers”. Completely ravaged by Russian forces, the city has witnessed numerous civilians die and hundreds of thousands flee their homes. 

“Not everything is in our power,” Vadym Boichenko, the pro-government mayor of Mariupol said in a live television interview. 

“Unfortunately, we are in the hands of the occupiers today,” Boichenko added. 

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the city of Mariupol flourished with a populace of over 400,000 Ukrainians. Now, to preserve what little is left of it, Boichenko has called for a full evacuation of the port city’s remaining population.

“According to our estimates, about 160,000 people are in the besieged city of Mariupol today, where it is impossible to live because there is no water, no electricity, no heat, no connection,” he said, adding that “it’s really scary”.

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“We need a complete evacuation from Mariupol. Our most important mission today is to save every life… And there are hopes that we will succeed. For example, there are 26 buses that have to go to Mariupol to evacuate, but unfortunately, they haven’t received permission to move. And this game is played every day. A cynical game like, ‘Yes, we are ready. You can drive there,’ but in fact it does not work,” Boichenko said. 

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“Our heroic drivers under the fire are trying to reach the places where Mariupol residents can be picked up, and they are waiting with the hope that they will have such an opportunity. But the Russian Federation has been playing with us since day one,” he added. 

Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of forcibly deporting civilians to “the Volodar temporary accommodation center for evacuees”. According to Denis Pushilin, the head of the pro-Russian Donetsk People’s Republic, around 1,700 people are being “evacuated” daily from Ukraine’s besieged cities.