A 6-year-old Ukrainian girl died alone and thirsty after being trapped in the rubble of a Russian airstrike that killed her mother, officials announced Tuesday, March 8.
It remains unclear how long the little girl, Tanya, had been suffering before she died, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said in a heartbreaking post on the city’s Telegram channel.
"I have no words today," Boychenko wrote.
"We cannot imagine how much suffering an innocent child had to endure," he said, adding that authorities were not able to ascertain "how long our little, strong Mariupol citizen has been fighting for her life".
"In the last minutes of her life she was alone, exhausted, frightened, terribly thirsty," he said.
Tanya died of dehydration and her lifeless body was pulled out from the rubble of her home after "her mother blew to pieces from a Russians shelling," he said.
"This is just one of the many stories of Mariupol, which has been surviving a blockade for eight days," he said of the besieged port city.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the child’s death was "probably the first time in dozens of years, perhaps for the first time since the Nazi invasion, a child died of dehydration.
"Hear me, today, dear partners! A child died of dehydration in 2022!" he said in a video addressing.
Tanya died of thirst over a week after the Russian invading forces cut off the water and power supply in the city that continues to be attacked despite promises of a cease-fire to allow civilians to be evacuated from Mariupol and other besieged cities, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry posted on social media: "Ceasefire violated! Russian forces are now shelling the humanitarian corridor from Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol. 8 trucks + 30 buses ready to deliver humanitarian aid to Mariupol and to evac civilians to Zaporizhzhia. Pressure on Russia MUST step up to make it uphold its commitments."
A city official had told The New York Times last week that he’d seen people "drink from puddles in the streets".
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote Tuesday morning: "Russia holds 300k civilians hostage in Mariupol, prevents humanitarian evacuation despite agreements with ICRC mediation. One child died of dehydration (!) yesterday! War crimes are part of Russia’s deliberate strategy. I urge all states to publicly demand: RUSSIA, LET PEOPLE GO!"
As of Tuesday, the United Nations human rights office had confirmed 1,335 civilian casualties in Ukraine, including 474 killed and 861 injured.
At least 38 kids were killed and more than 70 other children were injured since Russia's invasion began on February 24, the office said.
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