Street cleaners collect dead bodies in Ukraine after thousands killed by Russian troops
The besieged city of Mariupol is suffering such a devastating toll that street cleaners are collecting the bodies of civilians killed during the Russian onslaught, the city's deputy mayor has said.
The city, situated in the south-west of Ukraine, has found itself at the centre of the invasion, with 2,500 residents reportedly killed as a result of the Russian invasion.
"We can't bury [the victims] in private graves, as those are outside the city and the perimeter is controlled by Russian troops," Mariupol's deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov told the BBC.
Heavy Russian shelling has prevented any mass evacuation from the besieged port city, despite efforts to open safe routes for civilians to escape through. Promised ceasefires have been routinely broken by Russian troops.
On Sunday, the city council said the civilian death toll had reached 2,100. By Monday, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said that figure had risen to 2,500.
Orlov said he could not give a total for dead civilians buried in mass graves, but that 67 bodies were at one site.
"Some we can't identify but some had documents," he said, and then went on to reveal that the situation was so dire street cleaners and road repair teams were having to collect bodies in the streets because municipal services have collapsed.
He added: "Some people were killed during those collections. We've had no electricity, or heating, sanitation, water, food for 11 days."
Orlov said that thousands of residents are hiding in cellars beneath the city, and some are burying family members privately in courtyards or gardens.
In a video message on Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the families of the 79 children killed in the war “had been destroyed’’.
Watch: Drone footage shows destruction to the city of Mariupol
Zelensky emphasized the plight of Mariupol, a port city of 430,000, which is surrounded by Russian troops.
“They are bombing it 24 hours a day, launching missiles" he said.
Recalling the destruction of a maternity hospital in the city last Wednesday, he said: “It is hatred. They kill children. They destroy maternity hospitals. They destroy hospitals, why? So Ukraine has no more children.”
On Monday it was announced that a pregnant woman who had been pictured clasping her bloodstained stomach as paramedics carried her through the wreckage of the hospital after the bomb attack, had died.
According to the Associated Press news agency, the woman was rushed to another hospital where doctors worked to keep her alive. Realising she was losing her baby, medics said she cried out to them:, “Kill me now!”.
Surgeon Timur Marin said the woman's pelvis had been crushed and her hip detached. Medics delivered the baby via cesarean section, but it showed “no signs of life,” the surgeon said.
After a further 30 minutes of resuscitation attempts Marin said medics had to give up.
“Both died," he said.
On Saturday, Ukraine's foreign ministry said that Russian military had shelled a mosque in Mariupol where over 80 adults and children were sheltering.
Russian president Vladimir Putin initially said that his invasion of Ukraine would not target any civilians, but the offensive has since bombed multiple towns and cities, resulting in a massive refugee crisis. Foreign officials have said that Russia is targeting civilians to try and "break morale."
Last week, Yuliya Campbell, 36, from Kent said it was “torture” not knowing if her family were OK.
Mrs Campbell, who was born and grew up in the southern Ukrainian city, said her family members are thought to be among tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the city.
