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Destroyed downtown Mariupol: All evacuations have failed
Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP
The dramatic situation in the city of Mariupol in the south-east of the country, surrounded by Russian troops, threatens to deteriorate further.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the city is now completely blocked.
"All bridges and access roads to the city have been destroyed," said Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, according to the Interfax news agency.
All bridges and driveways were destroyed.
The Russian military blames Ukraine for the hopeless situation.
"Nationalists" had mined the main roads and opened fire indiscriminately.
The statements cannot be independently verified at this time.
In Mariupol alone, at least 1,582 civilians have been killed since the Russian attacks began, the city council responsible said in an online statement.
All attempts to evacuate civilians from the city have so far failed - despite Russian announcements that it will create evacuation corridors and allow food and medicine to be delivered to the city.
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of violating an agreed ceasefire.
Abandoned aid shipments
Aid deliveries that have already started are still a long time coming due to the ongoing fighting: on Tuesday, according to Ukrainian authorities, a humanitarian convoy was fired upon by Russian troops before it reached the city.
Eventually the attempt had to be stopped.
Whether eight trucks with relief supplies that set off on Friday would reach the city is also unclear at the moment, said Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine's Interior Ministry.
Almost 50 kilometers north of Mariupol, pro-Russian separatists have taken control of the city of Volnowacha, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The residents reportedly did not want to be evacuated.
rai/dpa