Britain’s Defense Intelligence warned on Friday that healthcare services in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol could collapse as the cholera outbreak continued.
In its daily briefing on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defense said on Twitter that medical services in Mariupol were on the verge of collapse and that a cholera outbreak would exacerbate this.
The British Ministry stated that a number of cholera patients had already been reported since last May. Two days ago, the United Nations warned of a “high risk” of a cholera outbreak in Mariupol.
The risk of a cholera outbreak in Mariupol is high, as people have less access to safe drinking water due to damaged pipes, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said at the regular press conference from Geneva on Tuesday.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 10 June 2022
Find out more about the UK government’s response: https://t.co/eMOeSJOmbI
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— Ministry of Defence ???????? (@DefenceHQ) June 10, 2022
Ukraine suffered a major cholera epidemic in 1995 and has seen minor outbreaks since then, particularly around the coast of the Sea of Azov, which includes Mariupol, according to the British ministry.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 10 June 2022
Find out more about the UK government’s response: https://t.co/eMOeSJOmbI
???????? #StandWithUkraine ???????? pic.twitter.com/IncUIxawpK
— Ministry of Defence ???????? (@DefenceHQ) June 10, 2022
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 10 June 2022
Find out more about the UK government’s response: https://t.co/eMOeSJOmbI
???????? #StandWithUkraine ???????? pic.twitter.com/IncUIxawpK
— Ministry of Defence ???????? (@DefenceHQ) June 10, 2022
Mariupol fell to Russian forces last month after weeks of fierce resistance that devastated the strategic port city in the southeast.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 10 June 2022
Find out more about the UK government’s response: https://t.co/eMOeSJOmbI
???????? #StandWithUkraine ???????? pic.twitter.com/IncUIxawpK
— Ministry of Defence ???????? (@DefenceHQ) June 10, 2022
In addition, in conjunction with the intensification of fierce battles around the eastern city of Severodonetsk, which Russia controlled in most parts, Moscow is struggling to provide basic public services to the population of the occupied territories, according to British defense intelligence.
The British Ministry of Defense said: “Access to safe drinking water has been erratic, while telephone and internet services continue to be severely disrupted” in the east of the country, while “there may be an acute shortage of medicines in Kherson”.
Ukrainian forces said the battle for the city of Severodonetsk was still raging late Thursday.
“The difficult situation continues,” Sergey Gaidai, head of the military administration of eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, said on national television.
“The toughest battles are still going on in Severodonetsk,” Gaidai added, accusing the Russians of using “lies and propaganda” to declare victory in the city.
While “the Russians have already reported that they have captured the city,” the Ukrainian military official said, Russian forces withdrew some of their units.
On the other hand, the networkCNNOleksandr Stryuk, head of the Severodonetsk Military Administration, told national television on Thursday that there was “continuing street fighting”.
Strick continued, “The humanitarian situation in the city is critical. The bridge is under fire, so it is impossible to deliver goods and there is no water supply.”
In a related context, the Deputy Head of Ukrainian Military Intelligence, Vadim Skipetsky, said that Ukraine is suffering losses on the front lines and is now almost completely dependent on weapons coming from the West to repel the Russians.
Skipetsky told the newspaper:The GuardianThis is an artillery war now. Everything depends on what weapons the West gives us. Ukraine uses 5,000 to 6,000 artillery rounds per day, according to Skpitsky.
According to US military sources who spoke to AFP, Ukraine has exhausted its Soviet and Russian weapons and is now completely dependent on allies for weapons.
Once part of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian army and its defense industry were built using Soviet-standard equipment, small arms, tanks, howitzers, and other weapons that could not be replaced with those of its neighbors to the West.