Russia shells Mariupol every 30 mins: Mayor

Kiev, March 11 (IANS) Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko on Friday said the Ukrainian city is being shelled by Russian forces every 30 minutes.

In a social media post, the Mayor acknowledged that the the last few days have been particularly difficult for the city as Russian forces were "ruthlessly and purposely shelling residential buildings" in the strategic port city.

"Today, they cynically fired on the State Emergency Services. Every 30 minutes, aircraft flew over the city, working residential areas and killing civilians: the elderly, women and children."

He also accused Russia of disrupting the delivery of humanitarian aid from Zaporizhzhya to Mariupol, adding that the forces attacked convoys and the 'green corridor' for civilian evacuations.

According to preliminary estimates by Mariupol's city council, about 1,300 civilians have died thus far in the 10 days that it has been blockaded.

In a video address on Thursday, Iryna Vereschuk, Minister of the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, said no evacuation could take place from the humanitarian corridor from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhya due to constant shelling by Russian forces, the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper reported.

Calling the situation in Mariupol a "humanitarian catastrophe", the Minister said that Russia has constantly hampered the planned evacuation of civilians from the strategic port city.

"The worst situation is in Mariupol-Zaporizhzhya. No one has been evacuated. Not a single drop of water has reached people who are exhausted from thirst. 300,000 people today are suffering from lack of water, cold and hunger. The aggressor's revenge is not allowing us to save them," Vereschuk said.

She also claimed that currently there was only one road from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhya, via Orikhiv and Polohy, as all others have been destroyed or mined.

On Wednesday, Mariupol witnessed one of the worst attacks since Russia started its war on February 24 when a children and maternity hospital was shelled, killing three people and injuring 17 others.