Kyiv, Ukraine (CNN) – Civilians in the battered Ukrainian port city of Mariupol are trapped without power and water and unable to recover their dead, its mayor said Saturday, as he accused Russia of trying to “choke” the city by shutting off agreed evacuation routes.
Russia agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday to allow civilians to safely leave the southeastern cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha, where residents have endured days of heavy, indiscriminate shelling.
But the evacuations are on pause, with Ukrainian authorities accusing Russia of violating the agreement by resuming its attacks, leaving thousands of civilians trapped in what people on the ground describe as increasingly dire conditions.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said the city is without power, heat, water or mobile networks, and some buses that were going to be used to evacuate civilians have been destroyed in the shelling.
“(The Russian military) is working to besiege the city and set up a blockade. They want to cut us off from the humanitarian corridor, shutting down the delivery of essential goods, medical supplies, even baby food,” he said in an interview on a YouTube channel Saturday. “Their goal is to choke the city and place it under an unbearable stress.”
Calls for more support
As the Russian onslaught continues, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated his pleas for US and NATO assistance in establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine — a move which could prevent Russian forces from carrying out airstrikes against the country.
But there are fears such a move could be seen as an escalation, with Russian President Vladimir Putin warning on Saturday he would consider countries imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine as “participants in a military conflict.”
Zelensky has repeatedly asked NATO and Western officials to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but both say they oppose such a move.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that establishing such a zone could lead to a “full-fledged war in Europe,” but added Washington would continue to work with its allies to provide Ukrainians with the means to defend themselves from Russian aggression.
In an impassioned call to US lawmakers Saturday, Zelensky also encouraged Eastern European nations to provide Ukraine with fighter jets, stressing they were needed to defend against Russian aggression.
On the call, Zelensky said if the West won’t impose a no-fly zone they should give Ukraine planes.
A White House spokesperson confirmed the US is working with Poland on the possibility of Warsaw providing fighter jets to Ukraine. Some Biden administration officials privately fear that this move could be viewed by the Russians as an escalation, US officials say.
Putin claimed Saturday that Russia had almost completed the destruction of Ukrainian air defense systems, and added that Western sanctions were the “equivalent of a declaration of war.”
Dire situation in Mariupol
In Mariupol — a city with a population of nearly 400,000 — doctors are living and sleeping at hospitals as they work to save lives, Boichenko said.
“This is the sixth straight day of airstrikes and we are not able to get out to recover the dead,” he said Saturday.
On Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defense declared a ceasefire in Mariupol and Volnovakha to facilitate the opening of “humanitarian corridors for the exit of civilians.”
But just a few hours after the announcement to pause fire, a top regional official accused Russia of breaking its agreement.
“Due to the fact that the Russians are not observing the ceasefire regime and continue shelling Mariupol and its outskirts, the evacuation of the population has been postponed for security reasons,” governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said on Twitter.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency TASS that offensive operations resumed Saturday evening, local time, claiming the “population of these cities is being held by nationalist formations as human shields.” The United Kingdom’s Defense Ministry said Russia had likely accused Ukraine of breaking the agreement to “shift responsibility for current and future civilian casualties in the city.”
