(NewsNation) — Ferocious Russian bombardment of the besieged coastal Ukrainian port city of Mariupol has left dozens dead in the past day, according to authorities.
Here is what we know:
- Officially, 2,400 civilians have been killed in the city but officials struggle to account for the dead and believe the toll is far higher.
- Airstrikes and shelling have relentlessly pounded the city — about one a minute at times.
- A Russian airstrike destroyed a theater where hundreds of people were sheltering.
- An airstrike also hit the Neptune swimming pool complex, with women and young children hiding within it.
- In recent days, airstrikes have hit the maternity hospital, the fire department, homes, a church and a field outside a school.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed to be targeting military installations but that has been proven to be untrue.
- 30,000 people had fled the city in a convoys of cars.
- Several appeals for humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians went unheeded.
- Bodies are being buried in mass graves on the outskirts of the city due to heavy shelling.
For the estimated hundreds of thousands who remain in the city, there is quite simply nowhere to go. The surrounding roads are mined and the port blocked. Food is running out, and the Russians have stopped humanitarian attempts to bring it in. Electricity is mostly gone and water is sparse, with residents melting snow to drink.