Mariupol ‘Doesn’t Exist Anymore,’ Estimated 21,000 Casualties

The southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, has been almost entirely destroyed by Russian troops, according to Ukrainian officials Sunday.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told CBS that Mariupol “doesn’t exist anymore,” after seven weeks of attacks from Russian forces. “The remainings of the Ukrainian army and large group of civilians are basically encircled by the Russian forces. They continue their struggle, but it seems from the way the Russian army behaves in Mariupol, they decided to raze the city to the ground at any cost,” he continued.

At least 21,0000 people have been killed and a majority of the city is rubble, according to Fox News. In the earliest weeks of the war, a maternity hospital was hit by a Russian airstrike and roughly 300 people were killed as they sheltered in a theatre. An estimated 100,000 citizens remain in the city that was once home to 450,000 Ukrainian citizens, the outlet reported.

None of the remaining residents have access to food, water, heat or electricity, Fox noted. Kuleba said he anticipates the war will continue into the coming weeks with a large-scale Russian offensive in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.