'My heart is frozen,' says deputy mayor of Mariupol as civilians come under fire
Sergei Orlov describes mass graves, lost loved ones and a shortage of food and water
The deputy mayor of Mariupol says civilians are coming under fire, bodies are being buried in mass graves, and people are running out of food and water.
The southeastern Ukrainian city has come under heavy bombardment from Russian forces over the last several weeks. On Wednesday, Ukrainian officials reported the shelling of civilians trying to flee and the bombing of the Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama, where more than 1,000 people were seeking shelter.
It's not yet clear how many people were wounded or killed in the theatre, but Mariupol's city council says at least five people, including a child, were wounded by Russian artillery while trying to escape to the city of Zaporizhzhia.
Russia's defence ministry on Wednesday denied it had carried out an airstrike against the theatre, and says it does not target Ukrainian citizens.
Deputy mayor Sergei Orlov described a dire situation in his city during an interview with As It Happens guest host Gillian Findlay. Here is part of their conversation.
When we spoke to you last week, you said you couldn't imagine such things happening in the 21st century. How much worse are things in your city today?
Each day we thought the previous day was the cruellest, the most awful. But each day, unfortunately, gives us new, awful things.
What have you seen today?
We have a lot of cars which were evacuating [with] just families — it's parents, children, adults — and they were on the way to the Zaporizhzhia. But they were shelled with artillery and two cars were destroyed. And we know about five victims. One of them is a child. He is in surgery.
And three hours ago, we received information that the central dramatic theatre was destroyed by airstrike, by bomb. And it's awful. I do not have words [for the] situation because more than 1,000 citizens were there. I don't know how many victims ... we have.
But we cannot reach them because [of] street battles and the continuous shelling. So safety personnel cannot reach them even to see what is going on.
We have heard that people have been told just to leave bodies in the streets. Do you have a sense of the number of people who've died?
In fact, we do not count. It's only our estimation.
Three days [ago], we had 2,573 killed persons. And we should understand that's just bodies that we collect on the street. We do not have [the] opportunity to collect killed people in their flats. And that was three days [ago].
I don't know how many victims, how many civilians, [have since been] killed in Mariupol by bombing and airstrikes.
When we spoke to you last week, you talked about mass graves. And we have now seen photographs of people being buried in mass graves. Is that continuing in Mariupol?
Yes, it's continuing.
We had [a] cemetery in the centre of the city and it was closed for 50 years because it was so full with graves — I mean, old graves. But we do not have any [other options, so] we started to make mass graves there. But it's full of graves and we started to bury people in the central garden.
And your own family, Sergei. You said that [they are in an area under heavy bombardment, and] you had not been able to speak to them for eight days last week. Have you been in touch?
No, same situation.
I don't know if they're alive or not. And [after hearing] the last information about [the] dramatic theatre, my heart is frozen. I do not have emotion at the moment.
Watch: President Zelensky addresses Parliament:
Yesterday, your president [Volodymyr] Zelensky spoke to the Canadian parliament. Today, he spoke with the Congress in the United States. He made the appeal for more help, for air cover.
We totally agree and confirm we're ready to [defend] our city. We're ready to win this war. But, unfortunately, we don't have weapons, especially anti-missile, anti-aircraft weapons. How can we fight without weapons?
And so often the answer to that is that the West and NATO countries are just not prepared to give you certainly the air cover that you have asked for, because they worry that this could still get worse, that that could spread the war even further than Ukraine. What do you think of that?
What should I answer to them? It's crimes for all the civilization. I don't know what to answer.
You are a deputy mayor. You are a leader of this city. You are going through everything else that other citizens are. But you also, I think, are expected to lead your people, to do something for your people. And I'm wondering what that responsibility is like for you.
We should understand that there is a war, and most of the action is from our military, from the Ukrainian army, and they are very brave and it's [an] honour to be near them.
But as a city council, we do our best to satisfy, somehow, the basic needs of our citizens — to provide some water, to provide some humanitarian help, to provide some food, shelters, and to prepare humanitarian goods, to help in the evacuation. That's our mission, our target, and we try to do it.
How much longer can you hold out for?
I don't know. Our army will stand up to the last bullet, I'm absolutely sure, but people are really dying without water and food.
And how are you trying to get water and food to people there?
It's not a lot of options we have. So food is not possible to transfer to this city in any way. Water, we still have a possibility to get in natural sources and to provide some ... in several points of the city.
It is so heartbreaking to hear you, and yet you sound so strong. Where does your strength come from?
I don't know.... We have no choice. Either [that or] we die.
Written by Sheena Goodyear with files from Reuters. Interview produced by Katie Geleff. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
