Russian Troops And Separatists Battling Mariupol, President Zelensky: There's Nothing Left There

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Wikimedia Commons/President Of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - Intense Russian airstrikes have turned besieged Mariupol into "dead ashes", the city council said on Tuesday, as the United States and Europe plan more sanctions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

Street fighting and bombing raged in Mariupol, Ukrainian officials said, a day after rejecting an ultimatum from Russia to surrender. Hundreds of thousands are believed to be trapped inside the building, without access to food, water, electricity, or heat.

Russian troops and Russian-backed separatist units have controlled about half of the port city, which normally hosts about 400,000 people, Russia's RIA news agency said, citing a separatist leader.

Street fighting broke out in the city, and both Ukrainian civilians and soldiers were attacked by the Russians, said regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

"There's nothing left there," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video speech before the Italian Parliament.

Buildings belonging to Ukrainian civilians were hit by Russian attacks. (Wikimedia Commons/dsns.gov.ua/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

Meanwhile, Mariupol Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov told CNN the city is under a complete blockade and is not receiving any humanitarian aid.

"The city is bombed continuously, from 50 bombs to 100 bombs dropped by Russian planes every day. Many deaths, many cries, many terrible war crimes," Orlov said.

Mariupol has been the focus of a war that erupted on February 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops across the border in what he called a special military operation, to demilitarize Ukraine and replace its pro-Western leadership.

The city is located on the Sea of Azov and its control will allow Russia, to link areas in the east controlled by pro-Russian separatists, with the Crimean peninsula which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Ukraine says Russian shells, bombs, and missiles have hit the theatre, art school, and other public buildings, burying hundreds of women and children taking shelter in basements.

Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, speaking on Ukrainian television on Tuesday, demanded the opening of a humanitarian corridor for civilians. He said at least 100,000 people wanted to leave Mariupol but couldn't.

Buildings belonging to Ukrainian civilians were hit by Russian attacks. (Wikimedia Commons/dsns.gov.ua/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

Referring to Russia's earlier request for the city to surrender at dawn on Monday, Vereshchuk said: "Our military defended Mariupol heroically. We did not accept an ultimatum. They offered surrender under a white flag."

Kyiv accuses Moscow of deporting residents of Mariupol and the separatist-held territory of Ukraine to Russia. This includes the "forced transfer" of 2,389 children to Russia from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, said Attorney General Iryna Venediktova.

In response, Moscow denies forcing people to leave, saying it accepts refugees.

The 27-day invasion has forced more than 3.5 million people to flee, brought Russia's unprecedented economic isolation, raising fears of a wider conflict in the West unthinkable for decades.

The United Nations human rights office in Geneva said on Tuesday it had recorded 953 civilian deaths and 1,557 injuries since the invasion. The Kremlin denies targeting civilians.