Because of the difficult humanitarian situation, Great Britain warns of the spread of deadly diseases in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. Now the mayor of Mariupol is reporting a cholera outbreak in the city. He fears thousands of victims.
According to Ukrainian information, epidemics have broken out in Russian-occupied Mariupol. There is an outbreak of cholera and dysentery in the port city, said Mayor Wadym Boychenko, who is outside the city.
"The war, which has claimed the lives of more than 20,000 people, will unfortunately claim the lives of thousands more in Mariupol with these outbreaks of infection." Bodies decomposed in the streets. Parts of the water supply are contaminated and sanitary facilities destroyed. Bojchenko called on the United Nations and the Red Cross to set up escape corridors so that residents could leave the city, which had been largely destroyed by the war.
In view of the difficult humanitarian situation in the Russian-occupied territories, Great Britain had already warned of the spread of deadly diseases yesterday. The Ministry of Defense in London said there was a risk of a cholera outbreak in Mariupol. Individual cases of cholera have been reported in the city since May. "The medical care in Mariupol is probably already on the verge of collapse. A larger cholera outbreak in Mariupol will exacerbate this further," it said, citing intelligence findings.
In Ukraine there was a severe cholera epidemic in 1995 and since then there have been repeated smaller outbreaks, especially in the southeastern Ukrainian region around Mariupol on the Azov Sea. "Russia is struggling to provide basic public services to the population in the Russian-occupied territories," the ministry said. "Access to safe drinking water is erratic, and phone and internet services remain severely disrupted."
