Ukraine MP: Russia wants to starve Mariupol into surrender; rescuers still can’t reach basement of bombed theater

A Ukrainian lawmaker says he believes that Russia is trying to starve the besieged city of Mariupol into surrender.

“Russians don’t open humanitarian corridors, they don’t let humanitarian convoys enter the city,” Dmytro Gurin, who is from the southern port city, tells the BBC.

He makes the comments hours after the Russian deadline passes for Mariupol to surrender.

“We clearly see now that the goal of the Russians is to start to [create] hunger [in the city] to enforce their position in the diplomatic process, and if the city does not surrender — and the city will not surrender — they won’t let people out,” Gurin says.

The lawmaker says rescue services are still unable to reach the basement of a theater bombed by Russia last week.

It’s believed that hundreds of people were sheltering in the Mariupol Drama Theater and that the bomb shelter withstood the attack.

“The services cannot clean this rubble because the shelling never stops and bombing never stops. It’s really dangerous,” he says.