“Usually Mariupol is under fire all day and night. Sometimes there is 30 minutes of silence, but then the city is under attack again [from] tanks, artillery, multiple missiles and [aircraft] like bombers and helicopters,” he said.
The city is located on a coastal strip that connects the eastern region of Donbas with the Crimean peninsula, both of which have been under Russian control since 2014. Russian forces appear to be trying to take full control of the area to create a land corridor between the two regions, suppressing Mariupol with brute military force.
Russia has denied targeting civilians in Mariupol and blamed Ukrainian troops for the casualties.
Prokopenko said people in the city were now reluctant to leave their underground shelters, not even to get essentials, meaning they tried to drink less water and eat less food, and only came out to prepare hot meals. .
“People are cooking food on the street and risking their lives under the constant shelling and bombing,” the military commander said. “On the street it is minus 5 degrees Celsius.”
Basic amenities such as gas, electricity and water can all be found in the city. Bodies are left in the street because either there’s no one left to pick them up, or it’s just too dangerous to try.
Prokopenko said no one knew the exact number of deaths. “Some people are buried under destroyed buildings, buried alive,” he said.
Information about a massive attack three days ago on a theater in Mariupol used as a shelter has been slow to emerge.
Prokopenko said he believed the building, which also served as the city’s main humanitarian gathering station, provided temporary shelter for about 800 people when it was hit.
He confirmed previous reports that sustained Russian artillery fire made attempts to get survivors out of the building very difficult.
Figures released by several Ukrainian leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, say 130 people have been rescued, including one with serious injuries.