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Ukraine said on Monday that tens of thousands of people have likely been killed in Russia’s assault on Mariupol and Russian forces have slowed down evacuations from the besieged southeastern city, where conditions are desperate.
“Mariupol has been destroyed, there are tens of thousands of dead, but even despite this, the Russians are not stopping their offensive,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address to South Korean law-makers.
The accuracy of Mr Zelenskiy’s estimate of those killed could not be independently verified, though widespread destruction has been confirmed in the strategic city, which lies between Russian-annexed Crimea and eastern areas of Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists.
If confirmed, it would be by far the largest number of dead so far reported in one place in Ukraine, where cities, towns and villages have come under relentless bombardment and many bodies, including of civilians, have been seen in the streets.

A comparison of houses and buildings in Mariupol on June 21st, 2021, and the same buildings on March 29th, 2022, after Russian bombardment. Photograph: Satellite image/Maxar Tech/AFP via Getty Images


The head of the Russia-backed self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, told Russia’s RIA news agency on Monday that more than 5,000 people may have been killed in Mariupol. He said Ukrainian forces were responsible.
Petro Andryushchenko, an aide to the mayor of Mariupol, said on the Telegram messaging service that numbers of people leaving the city had fallen, not because people did not want to escape but because Russian forces had slowed pre-departure checks.
About 10,000 people were awaiting screening by Russian forces, he said. Russia does not allow military personnel to leave with civilian evacuees. There was no immediate comment from Moscow, which has previously blamed Ukraine for blocking evacuations.
Mariupol was among nine humanitarian corridors agreed with Russia on Monday to evacuate people from besieged eastern regions, but its corridor was for private cars only, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram.
It was not possible to agree the provision of buses, she said.
Ukraine says Russian forces are massing for a new offensive on eastern areas, including Mariupol, where people have been without water, food and energy supplies for weeks.

A view of the Mariupol theatre damaged during fighting in Mariupol. Photograph: Alexei Alexandrov/AP


Aid
In his address on Monday, Mr Zelenskiy asked Seoul for any military aid it could provide as he said Russia could only be forced to make peace.
He said his country needed more help, including weapons, if it is to survive the war. “You have something that can be indispensable for us . . . armoured vehicles, anti-aircraft, anti-tank, anti-ship weapons.”
Mr Zelenskiy said South Korea had many weapons that could not only help save the lives of ordinary Ukrainians but help prevent Russia from attacking other nations.
“There is and cannot be a hope that Russia will stop on its own,” Mr Zelenskiy said. “Russia can only be forced to do this, can only be forced to seek peace.”
Seoul’s defence ministry on Monday said it had rejected a request by Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov for anti-aircraft weapons.
In a phone call on Friday, South Korean defence minister Suh Wook told his Ukrainian counterpart that any support of lethal weapons would be limited in light of South Korea’s security situation and its potential impact on military readiness, ministry spokesman Boo Seung-chan said at a briefing.
Mr Zelenskiy did not mention that rejection, but said “the usual rules for supplying weapons must be reviewed and acted upon quickly”. – Reuters