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‘I cannot regard this as anything but genocide’: Kharkiv mayor describes Russian shelling of the city
Mayor Ihor Terekhov said efforts to provide humanitarian support to civilians in the city are happening under the constant bombardment.
Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv, says the Russian attacks on his Ukrainian city can’t be described as anything other than “genocide.”
Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, has faced increased shelling of residential areas since Sunday.
“There are constant air raids, constant fire on residential neighborhoods, a constant fire on the civilian infrastructure,” Terekhov told CNN, through an interpreter. “They’re hitting our water and heating and gas supply. They’re trying to interrupt our power supplies.”
The mayor said the city’s utility services are working to repair and restore supply, noting that Kharkiv, unlike Mariupol in the nation’s south, has water and heating access in all buildings that remain unaffected by the shelling. Volunteers, he said, are helping to hand out humanitarian supplies and medication.
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“All this is happening under constant constant shelling,” he said.
Terekhov said it is clear to him the Russians are targeting civilians.
“I cannot regard this as anything but genocide because the strikes are on residential districts,” he said. “What else can it be? There is no military infrastructure, not military facilities in these areas. Strikes are happening on kindergartens, schools, maternity hospitals, clinics. This isn’t an accident. I can understand when there’s an accidental strike, but when it’s hundreds of civilian buildings hit, that is no accident.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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