Mariupol March 3 2022: The mayor of Mariupol says Russian troops encircling the southern port city have created a situation similar to the deadly Nazi siege of St Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) in World War Two.
“They are trying to create a blockade here, just like in Leningrad,” said Vadym Boichenko.
The city’s mayor says Russian troops have cut off the city’s electricity, food, water and heating.
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He said “they couldn’t find a way to break us. So now they are trying to prevent us from repairing electricity, water and heating supply”.
Russian forces destroyed a train connection so they can’t evacuate civilians, he adds.
Temperatures are forecast to drop to -2C (28 Fahrenheit) this coming weekend.
Mariupol, a city of some 400,000, is a key strategic target for Russia, because seizing it would allow Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine to join forces with troops in Crimea, the southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
Maxim left his apartment after the invasion began last week to be with his grandparents, who are in their eighties and cannot leave their sixth-floor, city-centre apartment. The three of them are sheltering in the apartment’s hallway.
“The shelling started again at 6am this morning,” he says. “We can hear it now from every direction. We are terrified.”
