Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his latest video address that nearly 100,000 people are trapped in Mariupol under “inhumane conditions.”
“No food, no water, no medicine. Under constant shelling, under constant bombing,” Zelensky said, according to CNBC.
Zelensky noted that the country has been attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Mariupol for the past week and has tried to get people in the city evacuated.
“Almost all our attempts, unfortunately, are disrupted by the Russian occupiers. By shelling or deliberate terror,” he added.
Nearly 50 to 100 Russian bombs have hit Mariupol daily, according to The Wall Street Journal, leaving 80 to 90 percent of the city destroyed.
Earlier this week, Ukraine denied Russian requests to surrender Mariupol and Ukrainian troops were able to successfully destroy a Russian patrol boat, the Journal noted.
Despite that gain, Russia has continued to take a toll on Mariupol, gaining control of two steel plants in the city.
“Russian troops are turning Mariupol into rubble, killing Mariupol residents and bombing the plants,” the owner of the plants, steel magnate Rinat Akhmetov said, according to the Journal. “Under no circumstances will these plants operate under Russian occupation.”
However, Zelensky said on Tuesday that “very difficult” negotiations are ongoing between Ukraine and Russia.
“Step by step, we are moving forward,” he said, according to CNBC.