The Ukrainian port city of Mariupol “doesn’t exist anymore” after fierce Russian attacks over recent weeks, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Sunday.
Kuleba told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that forces in Mariupol have been fighting Russian forces for seven weeks, in a situation that is “dire militarily” and “heartbreaking.”
“The city doesn’t exist anymore,” Kuleba said.
He said Ukrainian forces and more civilians have continued to fight Russians.
“They continue their struggle, but it seems from the way the Russian army behaves in Mariupol, they decided to raze the city to the ground at any cost,” he said.
The war between Ukraine and Russia has shifted to the East in recent weeks. In fact, there has been heavy fighting in the Donbas region of the country.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of wanting to “destroy” the entire Donbas region, per The Guardian.
“Russian troops are preparing for an offensive operation in the east of our country in the near future. They want to literally finish off and destroy Donbas,” Zelenskyy said in a statement Sunday night, according to The Guardian.
Mariupol is one of the most important cities in Ukraine and it has become a symbol of Ukraine’s continued fight against Russia.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told ABC’s “This Week” over the weekend that Mariupol continues to fight, per Reuters.
“The city still has not fallen,” he said.
“There’s still our military forces, our soldiers. So they will fight to the end,” he added, according to Reuters. “We will not surrender.”