Around 30,000 people have been evacuated from Mariupol, while 350,000 civilians remain in the heavily hit Ukrainian city.
Mariupol officials are continuing investigations to determine if there were any casualties from the bombing at the theater.
Meanwhile, authorities in the besieged city, located in the eastern part of Ukraine, have said that about 90% of Mariupol's buildings have now been destroyed by the Russian attacks.
Lesya Vasilenko, a Ukrainian MP, tweeted that Mariupol was being "destroyed from the sky" and reiterated Zelensky's call for a blockade of Ukraine's airspace.
Residents melt snow to quench their thirst
At the same time, The Guardian's correspondent in Ukraine reports that trapped Mariupol residents are running out of drinking water and are being forced to find alternative sources.
A photo published by the "Guardian" reporter shows how residents are melting snow in bonfires to fill juice boxes with the resulting water.
See the photo taken by the "Guardian" correspondent:
130 survivors so far at the Mariupol theatre
Inside the ruins of the Mariupol theatre[/URL]
Inside the ruins of the Mariupol theatre, in the basement of which hundreds of Ukrainians who had lost their homes in the bombing had taken refuge, 130 people have been pulled out alive so far, while rescue teams continue their work.
According to Ukrainian news agency Ukrinfrom, this number was reported by Ukrainian MP Olga Stefanishina in a Facebook post.
"The shelter in the basement of the Mariupol Theatre held out. Already it became possible to save 130 people. Ruins, work continues," Stefanishina wrote.
The Mariupol Theatre was bombed on February 16. The aerial bombardment destroyed the central part of the theatre, while the collapse blocked the entrance to the shelter located in the basement of the building, where hundreds of people, mostly women and children, were staying. Due to the constant gunfire, rescuers could not begin their work.
Greek Consul describes the horror in Mariupol
The Greek Consul in Mariupol, Manolis Androulakis, describes in an interview the "hell" that prevails in the besieged city - the cradle of the expatriate community.
The consul arrived in Uman on Thursday afternoon, following his release from Mariupol on March 15. He is expected to arrive in Moldova tomorrow.
Manolis Androulakis, speaking to journalist Kostas Onisenko, who is in Kiev, said: "Every day is worse and worse. It is a tragedy. A lot of civilians have been hit, victims of blind shots. A hospital, a library, a university were hit. When I say they were hit, I mean nothing was left standing. For the last 10 to 12 days we have had no water, no electricity, no communications and no basic necessities. I should say that they brought a three-day-old baby to the shelter because they had bombed the maternity hospital which had no electricity. All the infrastructure was lost in the first three or four days of the siege. Mariupol ran out of supplies such as food and gas. I witnessed a huge humanitarian crisis."
Source: iefimerida.gr
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source[/URL]
