Russia's bombing of the Azovstal steelworks could cause a major environmental crisis as thousands of tons of toxic chemicals risk being dumped into the sea.
Mariupol City Council reported today how the shelling of the Azovstal iron and steel plant could have dire consequences for local wildlife and cause a "world-class environmental catastrophe".
The council fears the bombs could have damages a facility holding back tens of thousands of tons of concentrated hydrogen sulfide solution, reports EspresoTV.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said: "The leak of this liquid will completely kill the flora and fauna of the Sea of Azov. Then dangerous substances can get into the Black and Mediterranean Seas."
The mayor called for United Nations experts to be granted immediate admission to prevent the climate threat.
He added that Russia is trying to create a ghetto in Mariupol and that the chemical-tainted water supply could cause another crisis.
Russian troops stormed the plant on April 19 and destroyed large areas, however, pockets of organised resistance fighters battled on at the plant for weeks - refusing to surrender.
Members of the Azov Battalion, a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine in Mariupol, were based in the plant.
The fighters - who surrendered at the steelworks - were told they may now be tried as “Nazi war criminals” after being assured they would be freed in a prisoner exchange.
Russia is being accused of false promises after it agreed to exchange the Ukrainians still fighting in Mariupol if they gave up their resistance.
Members of the Azov Regiment had been stubbornly fighting on against Vladimir Putin ’s forces at the massive steelworks with a maze of tunnels that made it difficult for them to be defeated.
More than 250 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered after weeks of desperate resistance, bringing an end to the most devastating siege of Russia's war in Ukraine.
But now Russia’s Parliament has said it will vote on a resolution not to allow the “exchange of Nazi war criminals” and some MPs have called for them to be executed.
Environmental concerns were raised earlier in the war when Russian forces were seen firing at a nuclear research facility in Kharkiv.
Ukraine's parliament announced it was not possible to estimate the damage due to the ongoing clashes in the area.
A Ukrainian politician warned that the latest shelling risked a 'major environmental disaster'.
The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine said: "The continuation of its bombardment can lead to severe radiation consequences with contamination of nearby territories."
Emine Dzheppar, Ukraine's first deputy minister of foreign affairs, added: "The Russian aggressor fired rocket 'Grad' systems on the territory of the Kharkiv Institute, where the nuclear installation 'Source of Neutrons' is located, in the active zone of which 37 fuel nuclear cells were loaded.
"The destruction of a nuclear facility and nuclear material storage facilities could lead to a major environmental disaster. Ukraine continues to gather evidence of (Russian) war crimes to The Hague."
The regulator previously accused Russia of committing an "act of nuclear terrorism" by bombing the research facility.
