War in Ukraine: A voice message from Mariupol

The situation for people in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol is increasingly desperate, with extremely limited access to food, water, medication and information from outside.

Below is a voice message sent by an MSF staff member in Mariupol, updating on the situation on the ground. The voice message was sent on the morning of 12 March 2022.

People have the lack of proper food. They have to use wood to prepare fire and to cook the rare other food they have.

Also, not any hygiene available, so we have just a bit of water to wash hands and that's all that we can use this water.

Because the source of water located very far and people have to go one, or even two or three kilometers to find this sources of technical water.

Another big problem is no connection at all for at least one week. It's very informational vacuum: people do not know what is happening all over Ukraine and even what is happening in a neighbouring district of Mariupol city.

Only those who have radio, but there is a very, very few people who have radio, they can listen all the day the radio to understand what is the situation, even inside Mariupol.

People have lost connection with their relatives. They don't know what is happening with their relatives in other districts of Mariupol.

And this already lasted for more than one week, and people are very worried about their relatives. They don't know if they're alive or if they are maybe not alive.

We saw people who died because of lack of medication and there are a lot of such people inside Mariupol, and many people who were killed and injured and they're just lying on the ground and neighbours just digging the hole in the ground and putting their bodies inside..."