Suffering goes on in encircled Mariupol as evacuation fails

Mar 09, 20220

TYLER HICKS, New York Times count

Military personnel and emergency workers clear debris on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, at a barracks used by Ukrainian airborne troops that was attacked by Russian forces the day before in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.

MARIUPOL, Ukraine - Corpses lie in the streets of Mariupol. Hungry people break into stores in search of food and melt snow for water. Thousands huddle in basements, trembling at the sound of Russian shells pounding this strategic port city.

"Why shouldn't I cry?" Goma Janna demanded as she wept by the light of an oil lamp below ground, surrounded by women and children. "I want my home, I want my job. I'm so sad about people and about the city, the children."

A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in this encircled city of 430,000, and Tuesday brought no relief: An attempt to evacuate civilians and deliver badly needed food, water and medicine through a designated safe corridor failed, with Ukrainian officials saying Russian forces had fired on the convoy before it reached the city.

https://www.startribune.com/suffering-goes-on-in-encircled-mariupol-as-evacuation-fails/600153942/