Red Cross warns humanitarian situation in Mariupol ‘increasingly dire’

The humanitarian situation in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol is becoming “increasingly dire and desperate,” the International Committee of the Red Cross says according to CNN.

Russian forces have laid siege to Mariupol for nearly 10 days, while cutting its electricity, food, water, heating, and transportation in the depths of winter, according to local officials.

The ICRC says “people urgently need respite from violence and humanitarian aid.”

“All the shops and pharmacies were looted four to five days ago. Some people still have food but I’m not sure for how long it will last,” says ICRC official Sasha Volkov in a video recorded yesterday.

“Many people in Mariupol have reported having no food for children,” Volkov says.

She warns residents have begun to attack each other for food, and some have been siphoning fuel from other’s cars.