Ukraine-Russia: Mariupol has no doctors for 100,000 residents, authorities warn

Mariupol's 100,000 citizens have no access to any kind of medical care after Russian doctors were sent away from the occupied city, Ukrainian authorities have said.

Petro Andryshenko, adviser to the Ukrainian mayor of the occupied city, said on his Telegram channel that there were no doctors left in Mariupol, while citizens are obtaining drinking water from sewage wells.

He said there had been 17 Russian doctors working there, but that they had been sent home this week.

The city was taken by Russian forces in May, after weeks of constant bombardments, including an attack on a theatre where civilians were sheltering. It was eventually formally occupied after weeks of fighting around a steel plant on the outskirts, where troops were holding out as the last resistance fighters and more residents were hiding out. Officials said at the time that 90 per cent of all buildings in Mariupol; had been damaged or destroyed during the invasion.

People wait in line at a food distribution organised by volunteers in the city of Mariupol.

Mr Andryshenko said: “Today, Mariupol is left without doctors. A group of 17 white coated occupiers from Moscow worked in Mariupol. As of today, they have been sent home. There were no Mariupol doctors before that. Therefore, it can be said that as of today, there is no medical assistance in Mariupol.”

He said that Russian occupiers were hosing down the main streets of the city to give an impression of a clean and thriving centre – while just three per cent of Mariupol residents have access to any clean water.

"Every day, several hundred cubic meters of water are spilled to create a picture of a good life. In a city where the majority of Mariupol residents do not have access to drinking or technical water.”

He said that that centralised heating in Mariupol will not be able to be restored following the devastating shelling of the city, while private houses will not be able to have their gas supply reconnected – which he said would result in the “worst winter” in Mariupol’s history.

He added: “The worst winter in the entire history of the city awaits the people of Mariupol. The occupiers do not need people, they treat Ukrainians like cattle.”