Russia and Ukraine: images reveal the dimension of the destruction in the city of Mariupol

• Visual Journalism Team
• BBC News

11 March 2022

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image source, Sergei Orlov

Caption,

A pregnant woman in front of the bombed hospital in Mariupol.

The destruction of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, has been evidenced in a series of photographs and satellite images that show parts of the city besieged by Russian troops completely destroyed.

There are completely flattened residential areas, a destroyed shopping center and a maternity and children’s hospital in rubble after being bombed.

And there is at least one mass grave.

Municipal authorities estimate that some 1,300 civilians have died so far in the city, Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov told the BBC.

Mariupol, a city of about 400.000 inhabitants, has been subjected to intense bombardment in recent days.

The population is running short of food and water, Orlov said, and “there is no electricity, no water supply, no heating, no sanitation.”

People are forced to melt snow to drink and chop firewood to cook and keep warm in sub-zero temperatures, he added.

image source, Sergei Orlov

Caption,

This is how the courtyard of the maternity and children’s hospital was bombed on Wednesday after the explosion.

On Wednesday, three people, including a girl, were killed and 17 wounded in a devastating attack that destroyed a hospital maternity ward and children’s ward.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as a “war crime“.

image source, Archyde.com

Caption,

A member of the Ukrainian emergency services examines a crater caused by a shelling at a children’s hospital in Mariupol, on March 9, 2022.

A short distance away damage can be seen on the roads near the university, which also suffered heavy damage.

Images from the satellite technology company Maxar have also revealed damage to residential areas to the south and east of the city, now virtually cut off from the outside world.

Another image shows damage to a shopping center to the west. The roofs of two buildings were completely destroyed.

Mariupol is a strategic target key to russia.

Harnessing it would allow Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine to join forces with troops in Crimea, the southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

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