On Wednesday, March 9, Russian forces bombed a children’s hospital in the city of Mariupol. According to a Ukrainian official, the attack left at least 17 wounded, all of them adults. Since February 25, the city has been under constant bombardment and hundreds of thousands of people are trapped, despite Russian promises to open humanitarian corridors.
On Wednesday morning, the Russians and Ukrainians again agreed to observe a ceasefire around a series of humanitarian corridors, to allow evacuations from bombed-out cities.
Corridors have been defined to evacuate civilians from Energodar to Zaporizhia (south), from Izioum to Lozova (east) and from Sumy to Poltava (northeast).
From the port city of Mariupol, located in southeastern Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of people are trying to flee. But according to the Ukrainian authorities, the Russians are deliberately preventing their evacuation, despite the fact that corridors have been set up there too.
“Russia continues to hold more than 400,000 people hostage in Mariupol, preventing humanitarian aid and evacuations. Indiscriminate shelling continues,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
“Nearly 3,000 newborns lack medicine and food,” he added.
Let us remember that the humanitarian corridor is a means to evacuate civilians from a war zone, but sometimes it is also used for strategic purposes.
In recent days, humanitarian corridors have become a crucial issue in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
According to various reports from journalists on the ground, the corridors are being bombed by the Russians to discourage residents from leaving Mariupol.
{{ scope.counterText }}
{{ scope.legend }}
© {{ scope.credits }}
{{ scope.counterText }}
Some specialists believe that this tactic is intended to hide the terrible reality of the siege of the city, giving the illusion that the situation is normal, since no one is fleeing.
A humanitarian situation that makes us fear the worst
The bombings of Mariúpol, which began at the end of February, were initially episodic and the local authorities managed to repair – between one bombing and another – the power lines, the water pipes, and other facilities necessary for daily life.
But little by little, the attacks became permanent. According to the testimonies that could be collected, a rain of bombs does not stop falling on the entire city, and the municipal services are now unable to make emergency repairs.
As a result, according to Human Rights Watch, residents have been without access to running water, electricity, or heating.
“Civilians in Mariupol have been trapped in a nightmare for days in frigid weather, without water or electricity, living under constant threat of Russian bombardment,” said Jonathan Pedneault, a researcher with Human Rights’ Crisis and Conflict Division. Watch.
“Both Russian and Ukrainian forces must take the necessary measures to allow civilians to leave the city safely and provide basic needs for those who remain.”
Today’s attack on a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, where maternity & children’s wards are located, is horrific.
Civilians are paying the highest price for a war that has nothing to do with them.
This senseless violence must stop.
End the bloodshed now.
— Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 9, 2022
Mariupol, a city of about 430,000 inhabitants, is located on the shores of the Sea of Azov. According to the municipality, the drinking water system relies on groundwater pumping, which requires electricity. Water treatment plants also need electricity.
On March 6, Doctors Without Borders affirmed in a message the absolute need to restore access to water.
“People don’t know where they can get water,” denounced the NGO’s emergency coordinator.
“They are drinking rainwater or collecting snow to melt it,” he added.
The current temperatures in Mariupol are between -3 and -4 degrees Celsius and, with no significant rainfall expected in the coming days, it is crucial to restore the city’s electricity and water supply to prevent the spread of diseases transmitted through ingestion. of contaminated water, Human Rights Watch warned.
For its part, the Mariupol municipality has said that hundreds of civilians have been killed in the fighting, although the full extent of casualties and damage to infrastructure is difficult to assess at the moment, due to continued bombing and communications. limited.
What international law dictates
International humanitarian law, or the laws of war, prohibit deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and their property.
The laws of war do not prohibit land sieges and sea blockades by “enemy forces” as long as they do not cause harm to civilians. However, the parties to the conflict must facilitate the rapid passage of humanitarian aid to those in need and allow their evacuations.
A highly strategic city
The Russian-speaking city of Mariupol is in Ukraine’s Donetsk province and is claimed by the self-proclaimed Moscow-backed Donetsk People’s Republic.
This strategic industrial port is the last major city in southeastern Ukraine to remain under Kiev’s control, but now it is completely surrounded by Russian forces and the separatist forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
The seizure of the port city by the Russian army would represent a huge achievement for the Kremlin, because it would facilitate the union of the Russian forces advancing along the coast of the Sea of Azov from Crimea – administered by Russia since the 2014 referendum – and the troops in the pro-Russian separatist territory of Donetsk.
Mariupol is also a large industrial city. Its commercial port is crucial for exports of grain or steel, produced in the country.
In 2014, the city was briefly occupied by pro-Russian separatists before being retaken by Ukrainian troops.
For the Kremlin, Mariupol is the missing piece to control the Sea of Azov.
Human Rights Watch, local media