Thread by @mattia_n

Today, I attended an emergency online conference of 🇺🇦 mayors from Mariupol, Kharkiv, Trostianets (Sumy region), Merefa (Kharkiv region), and Zhytomyr organized by the Ministry for Regional Development. What the mayors reported raises alarms on many different levels. A small 🧵

Sergej Orlov, deputy mayor of Mariupol, said that we witness is a "medieval siege" and he emphasized that the humanitarian situation is getting worse every day. For several days, the city is cut-off and there is no heating, water, gas, or proper food and medicine supply. /1

Citizens of Mariupol are hungry and use any wood they find to cook and to melt snow to drink. 3000 babies are deprived of food and will soon need medical attention. About 300,000 citizens remain trapped in the middle of this brutal siege. /2

The city is shelled from all directions and by all sorts of weaponry. The city's civilian infrastructure was deliberately targeted, hospitals were hit and destroyed. There are at least 1200 civilian casualties that the city knows of. Many more are expected beneath the rubble. /3

The deputy mayor stressed that for several days the attempts to open corridors out of Mariupol failed because the Russians either shelled the meeting place, mined the routes, or refused to let evacuation buses in or out of the city. Private cars trying to leave were shot at. /4

Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, also spoke of war crimes committed by the Russian forces, which deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure and now use heavy weaponry to sow terror. Over 400 multi-story residential buildings were destroyed. /5

The shelling from the air and by artillery remains a big problem for Kharkiv. Despite a huge risk for their lives, the city's many workers continue their duties to keep utility companies going and public transport running- even the trash is collected. /6

Because of the ongoing shelling, thousands of people continue to flee Kharkiv every day. Most of them use the few trains which leave the city. But hundreds of thousands remain in Ukraine's second-largest city. The mayor said that fuel supplies are running low. /7

Yuri Bova, the mayor of Trostianets south of Sumy reported that his city is surrounded. Occupants have raided shops and even make burials impossible in the city. Citizens cannot leave and no humanitarian supply is reaching the city. /8

The mayor of the small town of Merefa in the Kharkiv region told that his city was severely shelled even though there is not even any army present in the city. Power supplies have collapsed but the city is working to restore them. /9

Serhiy Sukhmolyn, the mayor of the central Ukrainian city Zhytomyr, said that the city has turned into a fortress, expecting the worst. It was shelled by air and by cruise missiles. Houses, schools, kindergartens, a maternity ward, and an oil depot were hit and destroyed. /10

All utilities are working in Zhytomyr and aid and most other crucial supplies are still arriving. But the feeling in the city is one of fear not knowing whether new strikes might hit the city. /end