The key Ukrainian port city of Mariupol was

"near to a humanitarian catastrophe" on

Wednesday after more than 15 hours of
continuous bombardment by Russian forces,
the city's deputy mayor told the BBC.
"The Russian army is working through all their
weapons here - artillery, multiple rocket launch
systems, airplanes, tactical rockets. They are
trying to destroy the city," Serhiy Orlov said.
Mr Orlov said Russian forces were several
kilometres from the city on all sides and had
launched strikes on key infrastructure, cutting
water and power supplies to parts of the city. One
densely populated residential district on the city's
left bank had been "nearly totally destroyed", he
said.
"We cannot count the number of victims there, but
we believe at least hundreds of people are dead.
We cannot go in to retrieve the bodies. My father
lives there, I cannot reach him, I don't know if he is
alive or dead."
Russian forces had targeted strikes against pump
stations and electrical transformers, Mr Orlov said,
and there were food shortages in parts of the city -
raising fears of an approaching humanitarian
crisis.
Mariupol is a key strategic target for Russia
because seizing it would allow Russian-backed
separatist forces in eastern Ukraine to join forces
with troops in Crimea, the southern peninsula
annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukraine's army has
resisted Russian forces so far in key parts of the
country but the increased aerial bombardment of
cities has raised fears Russia is shifting tactics.
"The Ukrainian army is very brave and they will
continue to defend the city but the style of the
Russian army is like pirates - they do not fight with
their army, they just destroy entire districts," Mr
Orlov said.
"We believe in our Ukrainian army, but we are in a
terrible situation."
Russia's invasion of Ukraine took a heavy toll on
civilians on Wednesday as residential
neighbourhoods in several large cities were
bombed. Ukraine's emergency services said more
than 2,000 civilians had been killed so far during
the Russian invasion, though the BBC was not
able to independently verify the figure. The UN
said on Tuesday that at least 136 civilians have
been killed, thought it estimates that the actual
number was higher.
There were fears on Wednesday of worsening
death tolls as Russian troops appeared to
surround the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv,
and the port city of Kherson.
Ukrainian forces said Russian paratroopers had
landed near Kharkiv on Wednesday, leading to
street fighting on the outskirts of the city. Local
officials said a cruise missile hit a city council
meeting, blowing off the top of the building and
wounding three. At least 18 people have been
reported killed in the city in the past day.

A fire at the a Kharkiv university building after it

was hit by a Russian missile on Wednesday
Residents in Kharkiv told the BBC they were
experiencing heavy aerial bombardment. "It is
exhausting and terrifying living under this
pressure," said Iryna Ruzhynska, 40, who was
sheltering with her family in her second-floor
apartment on Wednesday.
"We have put Scotch tape on the windows and
pillows by the window stills," Ms Ruzhynska said.
"We don't turn on the lights, only the torches on
our phones. We managed to go to the store
yesterday, but we queued for four hours and there
was virtually no food left."
The Russian defence ministry claimed its forces
were in control of Kherson, a city of nearly 250,000
people just north of Crimea, but local authorities
said the city was still under Ukrainian control,
despite being surrounded. Video footage verified
by the BBC appeared to show Russian troops in
the centre of Kherson.