Mariupol on the verge of epidemic, environmental catastrophes that will be felt beyond Ukraine’s borders - Denisova

Ombudsman Ludmyla Denysova made this statement in her Telegram channel.

“Mariupol is on the verge of an epidemical and ecological catastrophes. For almost three months of occupation people living in Mariupol were burying their neighbors and relatives killed by the Russian forces right out in the yards, which are close to water supplying and draining systems. The tombs aren’t deep for the most part - almost on the surface.”

After reenabling the damaged water supplying systems, the water started flowing out on the ground and washing out the burials. Due to this a high risk of corpse poison, bacteria, Tuberculosis microbacteria and other pathogens getting into the water systems and the sea occured.

Due to the water systems, damaged by the occupants, clean drinking water is getting mixed with sewer water and becomes unusable for drinking.

“Other than that, the Russian invaders turned the city into a garbage dump, because there was no way of getting the litter out of the city and people had no choice but to start piling up garbage near their houses. A part of all the trash is flooded with water from rains and damaged water stations, which leads to more pathogens spreading, which then get into water canals and the sea.”

The missiles which landed there are leaking chemicals and heavy metals into the ground, which can result in a dangerous concentration of harmful elements in the soil. This might result in a mass poisoning or epidemics, which might spread past Ukraine’s borders.

“The actions of the Russian occupants are violating four Geneva conventions which took place in 1949, and several additional protocols to these conventions (including the Protocol №1 issued in year 1977), and are a genocide of the Ukrainian nation due to the International Criminal Court’s Article 6 of the Rome regulations. I am calling the UN’s committee of human rights to account for Russia’s violation of human rights during their invasion of Ukraine, and account for the facts of the genocide of the Ukrainian nation.”