Russia accused of using starvation "tactics" in Mariupol in 2022 - human rights activists

The Guardian reported the information, citing an analysis by Global Rights Compliance lawyers submitted to the International Criminal Court.

The report says that Russia and its leaders intended to kill and harm a large number of civilians. It is estimated that 22,000 people died during the encirclement and capture of Mariupol at the beginning of the war in Ukraine. 

A few days after the siege, civilians were left without water, gas, and electricity, and temperatures dropped below 10 °C.

Global Rights Compliance partner Catriona Murdoch said that the purpose of the study was to "to see if there was a broader narrative" that involves the deliberate denial of food and other necessities by the Russian military and its leadership - a strategy of starvation that could be called a war crime.

"What we could see is that there were four phases to the Russian assault, starting with attacks on civilian infrastructure, cutting out the supply of electricity, heating and water. Then humanitarian evacuations were denied and even attacked, while aid was prevented from getting through," Murdoch said.

According to her, the phased shelling of Mariupol demonstrated that Russia planned to capture the frontline city "without mercy" for its civilian population, which was estimated to be 450,000 before the full-scale invasion.

• The advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andriushchenko, said that the International Criminal Court could consider Russia's organization of famine and destruction of civilians in Mariupol.