Russia is sorting Mariupol 'evacuees' at 'filtration camps,' based on social media posts, Ukrainians say
"In the besieged city of Mariupol, scene of the heaviest fighting in Russia's three-week war on Ukraine, people are now so hungry they are killing stray dogs for food," and "witnesses depicted post-apocalyptic scenes of stray dogs eating the remains of bombing victims who lay unburied on the street," Guy Chazan reports Sunday in the Financial Times. Russian forces are now in every Mariupol neighborhood, fighting Ukrainian defenders block-by-block for control of the strategic port city, Ukrainian officials say.
Residents trapped in the city have been without heat or electricity for weeks, and people are so desperate for drinking water they are draining radiators, melting snow, and scouring parks for streams — or they were, Chazan reports. "The streams also fell out of favor because they quickly became contaminated by corpses."
"It is hell on earth," Dmytro, a businessman who fled Mariupol last week, told FT. The BBC's Ukraine service showed a few scenes of Mariupol from over the weekend.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Russian-backed separatists said Sunday they have "evacuated" 2,973 people from Mariupol since Russia started its brutal siege on March 5, but local Ukrainian officials and residents who escaped westward say most people are going unwillingly to Russian-controlled territory.
Mariupol's city council said on Telegram that Russia has forcibly sent "several thousand" residents to "filtration camps," where their phones and documents are searched before the Ukrainians are sent to remote Russian cities. Russia denied the allegations.
One woman told The Washington Post that Russian troops entered a Mariupol sports hall where her family and other civilians were sheltering and told them to leave, then guided them onto roads into Russian-occupied territory. People arriving in Lviv from Mariupol told The Associated Press that armed Russian guards at the dozens checkpoints out of the city suggested it would be better for them to go instead to Russia or Russian-controlled cities.
Anna Romanenko, a Ukrainian journalist in close contact with Ukrainian forces in Mariupol, tells the Financial Times that Russian officials first question potential Mariupol evacuees to "test them to see if they are trustworthy" and "check their social media feeds for anything anti-Russian." One of her own friends was sent to Novoazovsk, a Russian-occupied town east of Mariupol, where "they interrogated him, took away his Ukrainian passport, and sent him to Rostov, across the border in Russia," she said, adding that she has not heard from him since.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said what Russia has done in Mariupol amounts to war crimes.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Italian senate passes law allowing anti-abortion activists into clinics
Under The Radar Giorgia Meloni scores a political 'victory' but will it make much difference in practice?
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Magazine interactive crossword - May 3, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 3, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine solutions - May 3, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 3, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Amazon ending 'Just Walk Out' grocery checkout
Speed Read In its place, the company will let customers scan while they shop with Amazon Dash Cart
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Justice Department bites Apple with iPhone suit
Speed Read The lawsuit alleges that the tech company monopolized the smartphone industry
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
House votes to force TikTok to sell or face US ban
speed read The House passed a bill to ban TikTok on national security grounds unless it sells to a non-Chinese company
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Apple kills its secret electric car project
Speed Read Many of the people from Project Titan are being reassigned to work on generative AI
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Cellphone use may be lowering sperm count
Speed Read Electromagnetic radiation could be affecting male fertility
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Nasa reveals first findings from asteroid that could explain origins of life
Speed Read Sample from Bennu has been found to contain an abundance of water and carbon
By Jamie Timson, The Week UK Published
-
NYPD to monitor Labor Day parties using surveillance drones
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Elon Musk announces change to Twitter logo
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published