On the side of the inhabitants of his city stands the mayor of Mariupol. While the Russian invasion is underway, Vadim Boichenko is in an underground shelter from and trying to persuade the civilians to leave the city,
A few weeks ago its mayor Mariupol Vadim Boychenko was working on his plans to modernize this Ukrainian city on the Sea of Azov, attending meetings to discuss new investments in technology, education and the pharmaceutical industry.
Yesterday Saturday (5/3) he was talking from a basement through a bad telephone connection with anyone who was willing to hear about the siege of the city by the Russian army.
He was wearing a T-shirt and had dark circles under his eyes. “Most of Mariupol has been destroyedhe said, obviously excited.
«They are destroying us “, complained to Reuters during a video call, with the sound of explosions being heard in the background.
Boichenko, as reported by the Athens News Agency, pointed out that his main priority now is to help many of the 400,000 people who want to leave the city because of the of war.
They sleep in shelters to escape the bombing
Most are sleeping in shelters to escape the almost constant bombardment, which has been raging for six days. Russian forces have surrounded the city, cutting off water supply, electricity, heating and shortages of food and water, according to Ukrainian authorities.
“They are working methodically to block the city,” said the 44-year-old mayor from the basement, which he has turned into his office.
“They do not even give us the opportunity to count the wounded and the dead, because the bombing does not stop,” he complained.
Like many Mariupol residents, Boichenko has no contact with his relatives in the city as most people do not have electricity to charge their mobile phones.
His son serves somewhere in the front line, but his mother and grandmothers, as well as his brother’s family are in the shelters of Mariupol.
“I can not even go there to see if they are alive, because the bombing does not stop,” he explained.
Many civilians in Mariupol desperately want to leave. But yesterday’s evacuation of the city was postponed as the ceasefire agreed between Moscow and Kyiv was not observed, with both sides blaming each other for violating it.
Boichenko noted that the agreement reached on Thursday on the creation of humanitarian corridors so that those who wish to leave Mariupol could be the first ray of hope after the Russian invasion.
At the mercy of the bombings the buses that evacuated civilians
However Russian bombing destroyed half of the buses that had been set up to evacuate civilians.
“They lied to us and, moreover, as people tried to leave to go to these corridors, the bombing started again,” Boichenko said, describing the fear and anger of Mariupol residents who were forced to return to shelters.
Today the city authorities announced that a new evacuation is planned, which will start at 12:00, while the new ceasefire that has been agreed expires at 21:00.
Both Boichenko and the Ukrainian forces defending Mariupol have called for military aid, saying Russia is determined to seize the city.
The occupation of Mariupol is of strategic importance to Moscow as it connects Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, to the areas controlled by the Ukrainians, pro-Russian rebels in the east.
Source: News Beast
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