(CNN) – Despite the consolidation of control by Russian forces around the southeastern port city, Ukrainian forces continue to maintain a “circle of security” in the city of Mariupol, Ukrainian civil servants said early Tuesday.
On Monday, the mayor of the city of Mariupol killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and forced hundreds of thousands of residents to flee their homes after shelling left the city for several weeks under the control of Russian forces.
“Everything is not in our power,” Mariupol pro-government Mayor Vadim Poichenko said in a live television interview. “Unfortunately, today we are in the hands of the invaders.”
On March 11, 2022, Russian forces attacked a residential building in Mariupol.
Boichenko called for the complete evacuation of the remaining population of Mariupol, which numbered more than 400,000, before Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
“According to our estimates, there are about 160,000 people in the besieged city of Mariupol today who cannot live without water, electricity, heat and connection,” he said. “It’s so scary.”
It is unclear whether there is still intense fighting within the city.
Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have prevented humanitarian convoys from safely approaching or leaving the city. The pro-Russian separatist leader said on Sunday that about 1,700 Mariupol residents would be “evicted” from the city and its environs, but Ukrainian officials say they describe the forcible deportation of thousands of Russians. To Russia.
“We need Mariupol to be completely expelled,” Boichenko said. “Our most important task today is to save all lives … we hope to win. For example, 26 buses have to go to Mariupol, but unfortunately they are not allowed to go. This game is played every day. ‘Yes, we are ready. You can drive there. ‘Such a nasty game, but it doesn’t really work. “
“Our heroic drivers, under fire, are trying to get to the places where Mariupol can take the residents, hoping to get such an opportunity. But the Russian Federation has been playing us since day one.”
Figures released by Ukrainian authorities on Sunday paint a grim picture of the aftermath of weeks of shelling and urban fighting in Mariupol.
Destruction of the streets of Mariupol, Ukraine on March 23. (Maximilian Clark / Sofa Pictures / Lightrocket / Getty Images)
According to those figures, 90% of residential buildings in the city were damaged, 60% of which were directly attacked and 40% destroyed.
Seven city hospitals — 90% of the city’s hospital capacity — were damaged, and three were destroyed. Three maternity hospitals (one of which was destroyed), seven higher education institutions (three were destroyed), 57 schools and 70 nurseries, 23 and 28 were destroyed, respectively.
Many factories were damaged and the port of the city was damaged.
According to official figures, up to 140,000 people fled before the city was cordoned off, and 150,000 were able to leave during the siege. At the height of the siege, about 170,000 people remained in the city, and Ukrainian officials say 30,000 people were deported from Mariupol to Russia.