Ukraine condemns shelling as bodies line streets of Mariupol

Ukraine condemns shelling as bodies line streets of Mariupol. 

Ukrainian officials denounced Russian artillery attacks in the northeast and the ongoing siege of Mariupol. 

The southern port city over which Moscow claims to have nearly complete control after over two months of bloodshed.

The Russian military has refocused its combat offensive on Donbas after failing to overcome Ukrainian opposition in the north. 

They are also initiating long-range strikes against targets elsewhere, including the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

In the previous four days, shelling in the northern city of Kharkiv has killed 18 people and injured over 100, according to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

He stated late Sunday, “This is nothing but planned terror: mortars, artillery against regular residential neighborhoods, against ordinary civilians.”

According to Ukraine, Russia denies targeting people and dismisses proof of crimes orchestrated to derail peace talks. 

Instead, it describes its operation as a unique military operation aimed at demilitarising Ukraine and eliminating “dangerous nationalists.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin is accused of unwarranted aggression by the West and Kyiv.

Despite a Russian demand to surrender before morning, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said forces in the pulverized port of Mariupol were still fighting on Sunday.

“The city has not fallen,” he said on ABC’s “This Week,” adding that the Ukrainian military still holds portions of the city in the southeast.

Russia claimed control of urban areas on Saturday, with some Ukrainian fighters remaining at the Azovstal steelworks, which overlooks the Sea of Azov.

Capturing Mariupol, the Donbas region’s main port, would be a strategic win for Russia, connecting pro-Russian rebel territory in the east with the Crimea peninsula Moscow took in 2014.

Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk, a neighboring province that has suffered intense conflict, reiterated his call for residents to go.

In a Facebook post, he stated, “The following week will be rough.” “This could be the final chance we have to save you.”

Small groups of bodies were lined up in Mariupol’s streets under colorful blankets, surrounded by shredded trees and burnt buildings.

While Russian soldiers examined motorists’ documents, residents, some on bicycles, navigated their way around wrecked tanks and civilian vehicles.

Irina was one among them, escaping with a niece who had been injured in the shelling.

“In DNR,” she stated, referring to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, she had a daughter. “Perhaps, for the time being, we’ll try to relocate there.”

“I’m hoping they’ll rebuild” (Mariupol). Utility systems are the most significant factor. Summer will fly by, and winter will be difficult.”