Shortages of medicine and food in the occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson have left vulnerable people waiting to die, a resident said.
Russian forces took control of Kherson, in the south of Ukraine close to the Black Sea coast, nearly a week ago.
And while shops in the city remain open, supplies are not getting through, according to a local man who asked to be referred to as James.
He told the PA news agency: “What we have now is a catastrophe in terms of medicine delivery.
“People who struggle for life without medicine – that is the state of emergency right now.”
Asked what such people are doing, he said: “I think they just wait to die, that’s what they’re doing.”
James said there were also concerns about food shortages, and there had been no indications from the Russians when supplies might be allowed into the city.
He said: “If some kind of delivery heads to Kherson it has to be guarded and from what I see the Russians are acting with hatred and they just kill for fun.
“This is not what I hear, this is what I see on the pictures – they just shoot at the cars.
“We in Kherson live like in a big aquarium where at any time they could just spoil the water or pump it away.”
Despite this, James said the residents of Kherson are living in “comfort” compared to others.
He said: “We know what’s happening around us and people in villages are being just shot in their houses, in their cars, on the way to jobs, on their way to friends. Merciless.
“This is really scary.”
Footage posted on social media shows residents of the city protesting over the Russian occupation.
And despite Russian forces being in control in the city, James is sceptical about their ability to maintain a strong presence in the country.
He described the invasion as a “farce”, adding: “There’s no invasion – the Russian forces are just moving alongside of our highways, it’s just a very long line of Russian military vehicles that move from town to town on the roads.
“They are not capable to take over towns and set up their own administrations in them – they don’t have enough resources for that.
“The Russian forces are not endless.
“At some point, Ukrainians will push them out – and we hope for that moment to be sooner than later.”
James called for more help from other nations.
“Overall we feel a lot of support but while our children are dying that’s not enough,” he said.
