Mass graves, burnt buildings and nowhere else to go as battle for Mariupol rages on | Ground report

India Today visited the besieged city of Mariupol in Ukraine and found bodies lying unclaimed in the streets, buildings burnt and people with nowhere else to go.

On Day 38 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the port city of Mariupol continues to be one of the worst affected by the war. Under siege, the city has not only been the site of fierce fighting but also witnessed a shortage of critical resources.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, more than 3,000 people were rescued from the city via humanitarian corridors on Friday.

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Reporting from ground zero, India Today’s Geeta Mohan found bodies unclaimed in the streets of Mariupol, buildings burnt and people with no choice but to try their hardest to survive in the broken city.

According to the UN human rights mission, thousands of civilians have died in Mariupol since Russian forces laid siege to the city about a month ago.

Walking down the streets of Mariupol, India Today’s Geeta Mohan found bodies lying unclaimed.

Further, a crater created by an air strike was turned into a mass grave with corpses being taken there. As a result of the winter, the land was frozen and people could not bury their loved ones. Hence, the air crater became a makeshift grave.