Girl, 8, dies of dehydration following days alone after mum’s death as Russian troops cut off Ukrainian water supply

AN EIGHT-year-old girl has died of dehydration in Ukraine after spending several days alone without any water, power, or heating supplies.

A harrowing photo reportedly shows the dead girl in the besieged city of Mariupol after her mother was killed in Russian shelling.

She has been named locally as Tanya.

Russia has been condemned internationally after its soldiers allegedly failed to respect humanitarian corridors leading civilians away from Ukraine's battered cities.

Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko tweeted the photograph, writing: "This child died of dehydration in Mariupol.

"Three times Russia broke the promise of a humanitarian corridor, shooting missiles at civilians."

She included the Twitter handles of Emmanuel Macron, Joe Biden, Boris Johnson, and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as she asked: "Maybe now is time for #NoFlyZoneOverUkraine?"

Ms Vasylenko went on: "Her name is Tanya. She is eight. She lost her mother and was alone.

"Eight days without food or water. This is f***ing genocide."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy originally announced the death this morning in a video address to his people.

"In 2022, from dehydration," he said, comparing the humanitarian crisis triggered by the Russian blitz of Ukraine to that created by the Nazi invasion during World War Two.

The child's death hasn't been confirmed independently, and there remains uncertainty over her precise age and the exact circumstances of her death.

A Telegram statement posted under the name of Mariupol's mayor Vadim Boichenko said she was only six and had died of dehydration after she was trapped under a destroyed house.

The account claimed rescuers found her eight days after the shelling when she was trapped under her collapsed house.

Mayor Boichenko's statement said the girl had no water, heating, electricity, or mobile connection.

He also accused Russian forces of blocking evacuation and humanitarian deliveries in and out of the city.

🔵 Read our Russia - Ukraine live blog for the very latest updates

Fears are growing that as temperatures drop to -20C and Russia targets civilian infrastructure, millions are facing sub-zero conditions without proper heating, water, or food.

Temperatures in Kyiv and Kharkiv will see lows of -10C this week, and -20C with wind chill, the BBC reports.

Many civilians are already without heat following days of heavy shelling.

Russian soldiers have also reportedly complained of a lack of proper food, shelter, and equipment, as Vladimir Putin's troops become bogged down in fighting.

It comes as...

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed the 'kill ever b*****d' who was shooting and shelling Ukrainian civilians
• Zelenskyy is due to address British MPs today from his bunker as he remains defiant in Kyiv
• Peace talks continue after Russian issued three demands in an ultimatum - which were rejected by Ukraine
• Vladimir Putin has lost yet another general as his troops are reported to have been deserting from the invasion force
• Pictures show abandoned 'Z' tanks and burning Russian trucks as the Russia's costly, grinding advance continues
• Civilians are facing a perilous journey to escape Ukraine - including one boy, 11, who travelled 750 miles on his own
• Brit ex-soldiers are heading to the frontline as they vow to help fight back against Russia

It comes as Mariupol's Deputy Mayor said authorities are burying the dead they can reach in mass graves.

Serhiy Orlov was speaking to the BBC World Service's Newshour after the city came under several days of heavy Russian bombardment.

He also told the BBC's Mishal Husain in a separate interview: "Putin wants Ukraine without the Ukrainian people."

Last week, Mariupol's city council said in a statement Russian forces were "breaking food supplies, setting us up in a blockade, as in the old Leningrad".

It added: "Deliberately, for seven days, they have been destroying [Mariupol's critical life-support infrastructure.

"We have no light, water or heat again. Mariupol remains under fire.

"Women, children, and the elderly are suffering. We are being destroyed as a nation. This is genocide of the Ukrainian people," it concluded.

Eight days without food or water. This is f***ing genocide

Lesia VasylenkoUkrainian MP

Mariupol is Ukraine's 11th-biggest city, with an estimated population of around 430,000 before the war.

It is a key strategic target for Russia as it lies between Moscow-backed separatists in the eastern breakaway provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk, and the region of Crimea, which the Russians annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

The city has seen some of the heaviest fighting since the start of the conflict.

Mariupol was the first city attacked by Russia, days after Putin recognised the independence of two breakaway regions.

Last week, Russia was accused of flouting a ceasefire in Mariupol, as a mother and father were pictured grieving over their 18-month-old son killed by Russian soldiers.

On Tuesday, Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov claimed 400 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and 800 injured since the start of the war.

At least 38 children have been killed and over 70 injured, he said in a statement.

The opening of humanitarian corridors provides some hope for besieged populations, trapped by fighting since the invasion began on February 24.

Some 30 buses are currently en route to Mariupol to evacuate refugees via a humanitarian corridor to Ukrainian-controlled territory, the country's deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a TV address today.

Russia denies targeting civilians and insists its actions in Ukraine are a "special military operation" to disarm its neighbour and "de-nazify" the country.

But just today, reports have come in of 21 civilians killed in yet another devastating airstrike, this time in the southern city of Sumy.

Horror footage shows bodies being pulled from the rubble after Russian pilots reportedly "dropped 500kg bombs" on the city last night.

Earlier this afternoon, regional governor for Sumy Dmytro Zhyvytsky said that civilians, including 1,000 foreign students, had successfully fled the city through a humanitarian corridor.

Similar corridors were set up again today from the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Mariupol.

But President Zelenskyy has accused Moscow of "cynicism" in a video message on Telegram, saying Russian troops have laid mines across escape routes and blown up buses intended for civilian transport.

"There was an agreement on humanitarian corridors. Did that work?"; he said. "Russian tanks worked in its place, Russian Grads (multiple rocket launchers), Russian mines."

He went on: "They (the Russians) ensure that a small corridor to the occupied territory is open for a few dozen people. Not so much towards Russia as towards the propagandists, directly towards the television cameras."

Across the country, reports of unspeakable horror are coming in.

In Bucha, northeast of Kyiv, the city mayor said they were under such heavy shelling that the dead were lying in the streets, with medics unable to retrieve their bodies.

The corpses are now being "pulled apart" by stray dogs, he said.

Pictures from Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, show an elderly woman being carried over a destroyed bridge in a shopping trolley.

The city has been the site of vicious fighting, with reports of hand-to-hand clashes taking place between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Yesterday, it was announced Ukrainian actor Pasha Lee was killed in shelling in Irpin.

The 33-year-old, who provided Ukrainian voiceovers for The Hobbit and The Lion King, shared a haunting final Instagram post as he vowed to fight for his country, after quitting his job to join the Territorial Armed Forces.