Mariupol, a port city in southern Ukraine, devastated by the Russian invasion, is considered a representative humanitarian crisis city.
Mariupol, which was once an active logistics port and center of iron and steel production, was surrounded by Russian forces for nearly two months, destroying 90% of the city and turning it into uninhabitable ruins.
Mariupol, which had a population of just under 450,000 before the invasion, is now estimated to have regarding 100,000 remaining. The remaining residents have been cut off from food, water and electricity, making it difficult to continue even basic living.
It is not clear how many people each left Mariupol and how many villagers were killed.
However, the Ukrainian government estimates that up to 20,000 civilians are currently killed in Mariupol.
Residents testified that the streets of the city were overflowing with bodies.
A resident who escaped in an evacuation bus from Mariupol on the 20th told the New York Times, “The city has turned into ruins, and there are shards of glass, wires and bodies scattered all over the place.” “The Russian military buried the bodies near schools and apartments. It seems that there is no place to ask,” he said.
In addition, a large-scale mass burial site outside Mariupol was captured by satellite images, revealing the circumstances of the Russian military’s cover-up of the genocide.
U.S. satellite company Maxa Technology released pictures of a cancer burial site found near Mariupol on the 21st and the 22nd.
The photo shows a pile of pits near the cemeteries of Manhusi and Vinoradne, villages near Mariupol.
In particular, Ukrainian authorities estimate that the pit discovered in Manhu is large enough to bury 9,000 bodies.
The number of people who have gone missing in Mariupol is also expected to rise, and the number of deaths is expected to rise.
According to the Washington Post (WP) on the 23rd (local time), ‘Mariupol Life’, a site that shares information regarding missing Mariupol residents, is gaining popularity.
If you enter the name, address, date of birth, last sighting, etc. of the missing person on the site, the purpose is to use ‘collective intelligence’ to find out the status of the missing person together.
Users can check the updated status of missing persons and send a message directly to the person who posted the post.
There are currently over 1,000 missing persons posted on this site, and more than 1,000 evacuations have been recorded.
So far, the site has been visited more than 12,000 times.
One post read, “I am looking for my mother. She was wearing a light jacket and a white hat, and following a stroke, she is unable to move properly,” a photo of the elderly woman was posted.
This site was created by Dmitry Cherepanou, a resident of Mariupol and a computer programmer, to help residents who have lost family or friends.
It is said that he himself was informed that he had been murdered hours following posting the information of his missing friend.
Mariupol Mayor Vadim Wojchenko said of Mariupol that “the greatest war crimes of the 21st century took place in Mariupol”.
However, even trying to leave the city is not easy.
The Ukrainian government says there are 100,000 people left in Mariupol and is asking Russia to ensure safety so that they can evacuate.
Previously, the two sides had agreed to establish a humanitarian pathway to evacuate women, children and the elderly from Mariupol, but on the day of the agreement, only four buses left the city with refugees from Mariupol. is not being done
On the 23rd, the Russian army resumed an attack on the Azoustal Works, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian army.
