Russia causes extensive damage in Ukrainian port city Mariupol, satellite images show

Satellite images released by U.S. company Maxar shows fire in parts of Mariupol and extensive damage to apartments, homes and other infrastructure.

Satellite images taken Saturday show extensive damage to the port city of Mariupol in Ukraine after Russia pounded it with strikes.

The satellite images released by U.S. company Maxar show fire in parts of Mariupol and extensive damage to apartments, homes and other infrastructure.

In the industrial district of Primorskyi, buildings can be seen engulfed in flames.

Mariupol is currently under siege by Russian forces, who are thwarting attempts to bring in food, water and medicine. It has endured some of the worst impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including unceasing barrages and a 13-day blockade.

The city’s electricity, gas and water supplies are currently knocked out, and aid group Doctors Without Borders says residents are dying from a lack of medication. Officials say a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding.

So far, more than 1,500 people have died in the city of 430,000, according to the mayor’s office. Global News could not independently verify the casualty number.

Maxar said fires were seen in the western section of Mariupol. The image below shows black smoke from apartment buildings covering a sports field visible in a satellite image taken in June 2021, before Russia’s invasion.

Russian forces have captured the eastern outskirts of Mariupol. If the city falls, the strategic port could allow Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.