March 24, 2022

Western leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday will agree to strengthen their forces in Eastern Europe and increase military aid to Ukraine as the Russian assault on its neighbour entered its second month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged people around the world to take to the streets in solidarity with his country, where thousands of people have been killed, millions become refugees, and cities have been pulverised since Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed his invasion on Feb. 24.

In Mariupol, the southern port city that has come to symbolise Ukraine’s plight, people were burying their dead and queuing for rations in pauses in the bombing.

One woman there, Viktoria, buried her 73-year-old stepfather Leonid, killed when the car ferrying him to a hospital was blown up 12 days ago.

“This guy had taken a seat instead of me and then they all got blown up in that car,” she told Reuters, pointing to the mangled remains of the vehicle.

“It could have been me,” she sobbed.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been hiding in basements in Mariupol with no running water, food, medicine or power.

Reuters reached a part of the city captured by Russian forces. No independent journalists have reported from the Ukrainian-held part of the besieged city in more than a week.

Ukrainian officials say they have pushed back the invaders in other areas, including around the capital Kyiv, thwarting Russian hopes of a swift victory.

REUTERS