Children trapped in dingy cellars are issuing a heart-wrenching appeal to be saved as Russian forces continue to bomb the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Desperate mothers and children plead from a cellar without water or heating as bombs rain down upon them.
With the cries of children in the background, lawyer Victoria Konovalov said in a video: “We are in Mariupol. Today is March 13th. We are in the cellar.”
She continued: “There are 20 children and senior (old) people. We don’t have food, first aid and vital supplies. Shops and pharmacies are destroyed.
“We do not have (heating) gas and water supplies. Military planes are flying above us dropping bombs.
“Please organize a humanitarian corridor for us! Please help us!
“Please help our children to escape from here!”
Mariupol’s supply of electricity, running water, and gas has been cut off since it became surrounded by Russian forces.
The city is now at the center of a growing humanitarian crisis as medical and food supplies run out. According to reports, it has been under constant Russian shelling, with more than 350,000 people still trapped inside.
Authorities said that the war has left more than 2,400 civilians dead as hundreds hide in basements of public buildings.
Just last week, Mariupol’s maternity hospital was bombed by Russian troops.
The city’s mayor called on world leaders to implement a no-fly zone over the country in a desperate attempt to stop the destruction of Ukraine.
“Today I am asking the global community for help. Close the sky over Ukraine. Our will has not been broken, we will fight to the end,” Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said.
“We have motivated soldiers and officers who defend our homeland. But today we need support.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky also issued an appeal, saying: “Can you imagine when you when you call your friends – your friendly nation – and you ask please close the sky. Close the airspace, please stop the bombing, how many more cruise missiles have to fall on our cities until you make this happen.”
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