A convoy of Russian armored vehicles is moving on the road near Mariupol, Ukraine on May 20. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters)
Russian forces controlling Mariupol have begun demanding permits for cars entering and leaving the occupied Ukrainian city, an adviser to the city’s Ukrainian mayor said on Sunday.
Petro Andrushchenko, adviser, also warned that deportations of Ukrainians from the region are increasing.
According to restrictions imposed on Saturday, cars and passengers entering the city need disposable passes issued by a Russian commandant in Manhush or Vinogradne, cities west and east of the occupied city, Andrushchenko said.
Passes to leave the city must be obtained from the Russian-backed separatist Interior Ministry of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
There are already several weeks to pass, he said, and traveling within the area without entering the city also requires a pass.
“For those who will visit Mariupol, do not forget that for now this is a one-way trip,” he warned. A man crashed a stopped car past a damaged tram in Mariupol on May 21. (Alexey Alexandrov / AP)
Mariupol, a strategically important port city on the Sea of Azov, fell under full Russian control last week with the handover of the Azovstal steel plant, the last stronghold of Ukrainians defending the city.
The Russians are also setting up more checkpoints to control travel in the area, Andrushchenko said.
“Today it is almost impossible to leave the city, even to Berdyansk, another Russian-controlled city southwest of Mariupol. “With the emergence of new checkpoints, all roads, both official and unofficial, are blocked. Today, it is impossible to circumvent the filtering procedure or get a pass from the occupation authorities. “
Nearly 50,000 people have been deported from Mariupol by the Russians, he said, adding that Ukrainian authorities were trying to find out where they had been sent.
“The situation is very complicated,” he said. “Most people leave without documents at all … But there are also happy cases. Not so long ago, 56 Mariupol residents were deported from Penza. And they are already in the Baltic countries. A resident walks near a damaged building in Mariupol on May 20th. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters)
“We hope to be able to bring at least some of our people back to Ukraine or to free countries,” Andrushchenko said.
He said 313 people, including 55 children, were deported from Mariupol to the Bezimen filtration camp on Saturday.
About 175 people, including 17 children, were deported from Bezimen to Russia on Saturday, he said, and 70 people, including 12 children, were deported from a filtering station in the Russian village of Nikolske.
He said this was the first time Ukraine had seen direct deportations from Nikolsk to Russia.
Add Comment