Ukraine-Russia Conflict: Nearly 20,000 civilians died in Mariupol so far, says the mayor’s adviser

According to the mayor’s adviser, nearly 20,000 civilians are reported to have died in the southeastern city of Mariupol. Petro Andryushchenko said the situation in the Ukrainian city was “catastrophic” and also said that the death toll could reach 350,000. 

“Four days ago, we talked about an ‘optimistic’ scenario - about 10,000 victims today. But with the increased intensity and the brutality that has increased many times over, we can say that if the blockade ends now and we can start at least searching for these people, the number of victims is already approaching 20,000" he said. 

“But if this does not happen in the coming days, this number will approach 350 thousand - all those who did not have time to leave" he added. 

The war between Russia and Ukraine is going on for three weeks now, but no concrete results have yet been reached. Russia has been attacking several Ukrainian cities for so long. But bitter resistance from Ukraine's military and civilians remains a major obstacle to Russia's victory. Therefore, mighty Russia has become weak. At the same time, Ukraine has accused Russia of using banned phosphorus munitions in an overnight attack on the town of Popasna in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region.