Ukrainian citizens from the decimated city of Mariupol are losing their hair and teeth from stress, and those with hair are turning gray, according to a New York Post report.
The Post article chronicles Ukrainian people who have been caught in the carnage of the Russia-Ukraine war, via The Times of London.
One particular story focused on a 42-year-old woman named Viktoria. Her brother — a Ukrainian national guardsman — has apparently been holed up in the Azovstal steel plant.
"There are many civilians [in the plant]. ... I think many of them are the staff of Azovstal. Also, there are many of those whose homes were destroyed. Many elderly and children."
On Thursday, updated satellite images appeared to show expansion of mass graves near Mariupol.
According to reports, the Mariupol City Council estimates the mass graves could accommodate up to 9,000 bodies.
Through Viktoria, a number of her brother's heartbreaking recollections portray the grim reality of Ukraine's battle with Russia.
"Many people began to stutter. Some are losing hair and teeth," said Viktoria, adding that many of the children had seen their parents killed, and some have gone gray from the trauma.
Viktoria said her brother also described a night when part of the plant was bombed, terrorizing some of the frightened civilians sheltering inside.
"We got everything that was left of their bodies with a shovel and put it in separate plastic bags," said Viktoria, while sharing her brother's stories secondhand.
Her younger brother has been trapped at the plant since Feb. 24, the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion.
"Then they wrote their names on those bags. ... Many injured people are lying on the ground, sometimes on mattresses. ... Surgeries are done there, too," said Viktoria. "They don't have any antiseptic so many people rot. My brother has never changed his uniform. He's still wearing the one he wore at the beginning."
On Friday, Mariupol mayoral adviser Petro Andryushchenko claimed, via the Telegram app, that Russian troops had tried and failed to storm the steel plant, despite Russia President Vladimir Putin's recent public declaration of blockading the Ukrainians.
"Yesterday, the occupiers continued attempts to storm Azovstal," wrote Andryushchenko. "Success has not been achieved, so shelling and bombing continue."
The United Nations was reportedly scrambling to execute a rescue effort in Mariupol Friday, after meeting with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in recent days.
Despite Putin agreeing to a UN-managed evacuation "in principle," Russian forces reportedly conducted airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv Thursday — while UN Secretary-General António Guterres had been stationed there with Zelenskyy.
Vitali Klitschko, mayor of the Ukrainian capital, called the missile strike Putin's "middle finger" to the UN.
Approximately 2,000 Ukrainian troops and 1,000 unarmed civilians are believed to be taking shelter in the Azovstal plant, according to the Post report.
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