People in Mariupol being forced to melt snow to drink

The Deputy Mayor of Mariupol has claimed that people in the besieged Ukrainian city are being forced to melt snow to drink, and chop wood to cook and keep warm in sub-zero temperatures, the BBC reported.

Mariupol, a city of about 400,000, has been subjected to days of heavy Russian bombardment.

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Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov said the city's residents were running dangerously short of food and water, adding that there is "no electricity, no water supply, no heating, no sanitary system".

Satellite images have revealed the scale of destruction in the city where residential areas have been flattened, a shopping centre destroyed and a maternity hospital attacked.

The southern port city has used at least one mass grave to bury the dead, the BBC report said.

Under fire and out of supplies, the situation in the besieged northern city of Chernihiv is also getting worse every day, the report added.

Also Read | Ukraine says situation in encircled city of Mariupol is 'critical'

As it faces a constant barrage of shelling and aerial bombardment, supplies gas, heat and even water have been cut.

And the stocks people have amassed will soon run out. Electricity is available in only a few areas, and most of the city is without light and communication.

The city, which had a pre-war population of roughly 300,000, is surrounded by Russian forces and has sustained heavy damage.

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