Russia used tactics of deliberate starvation during siege of Mariupol - Guardian
During the 85-day siege of Mariupol, Russia used tactics of deliberate starvation that amount to war crimes, resulting in the deaths of around 22,000 civilians.
According to Censor.NET, The Guardian reports this with reference to a new analysis submitted to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
It is noted that the report submitted to the International Criminal Court in The Hague by Global Rights Compliance lawyers emphasises that the Russian authorities intended to kill and harm a large number of civilians.
Lawyers have calculated that 22,000 people died during the encirclement and capture of Mariupol at the beginning of the great war, and a few days after the siege, civilians were left without water, gas and electricity, and the temperature dropped below -10 C.
Global Rights Compliance partner Catriona Murdoch noted that the aim of the study was to "find out if there is a wider narrative" that the Russian military and its leadership are deliberately denying food and other essentials to life - a strategy of starvation that could amount to a war crime.
She noted that the lawyers drew attention to four phases of the Russian attack:
- attack on civilian infrastructure;
- interruption of electricity, heating and water supply;
- denial of humanitarian evacuation;
- attacks while help could not arrive.
According to her, the phased shelling of Mariupol demonstrated that Russia planned to capture the city without sparing civilians, estimated at 450,000 by 24 February 2022.
At a cemetery in Mariupol, numbers mark the graves of unknown locals who died during the fighting in the city (Photo: EPA)
The report concludes that approximately 90 per cent of healthcare facilities and buildings in the city were destroyed or damaged during the siege, and that food distribution points and humanitarian evacuation routes were bombed.
As a reminder, 20,000 properties in Mariupol, temporarily occupied by Russian troops, are to be declared ownerless, most of them apartments.
