As the death toll rises in Mariupol, the key port city in eastern Ukraine, where Russia has focused its efforts since failing to capture the capital, Kyiv, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal accused the invading forces to commit “terrible war crimes” in the city. .
In an exclusive interview with Face the Nation, Shmyhal said “children and young babies” have died of dehydration in Mariupol. since the war began two months ago. It is estimated that more than 100,000 people remain in the city with little access to water, food or heat. Some 430,000 people lived in the city before the war.
“So there are terrible atrocities, terrible war crimes in the territory of Mariupol,” Shmyhal said at the end of his trip last week to Washington, where he met with President Biden and key lawmakers.
- Full transcript: Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on “Face the Nation”
Ukrainian officials estimate that more than 20,000 civilians have been killed in Mariupol since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to invade Ukraine in February. Unable to capture the capital of Kyiv, Russian forces have shifted their focus to Mariupol and other strategic towns and cities in the east and south of the country.
On the eve of Orthodox Easter, Russia launched new attacks in the region, including the port city of Odessa on the Black Sea, where Ukrainian officials said Russian missile attacks killed a 3 month old baby and at least five more people.
Shmyhal said Mariupol is like a “symbol of the brave Ukrainian soldiers and civilians” who have tried to protect the city amid heavy Russian bombing. But the only part of the city that remains under Ukrainian control is in steel plant where an estimated 1,000 civilians are taking refuge with some 2,000 Ukrainian fighters.
“We will protect our cities. And Mariupol will stay until the end,” Shmyhal said, adding that Ukrainian soldiers would fight for as long as necessary.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin were heading to Kyiv Sunday to meet with Ukrainian leaders. Shmyhal told “Face the Nation” that it would be a “very important political symbol” for US officials to visit Ukraine so that they can see with “their own eyes what has happened, what atrocities and war crimes” he has allegedly led to. term Russia.
The Prime Minister said he was grateful for the support the United States and other Western nations have provided to Ukraine, but said his country needs more weapons, ammunition and financial assistance, and urged the West to impose additional sanctions on Russia. .
He also suggested using confiscated Russian assets, including yachts, to pay the estimated $ 600 billion they would need to rebuild Ukraine.
“All this should be paid for by Russia. Absolutely,” Shmyhal said.
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