Inside the Ukraine city wiped out in the Russian invasion

Words: Richard Spencer, Larisa Brown Producer: Louise Starkey

Volnovakha, a city in eastern Ukraine, has been wiped out in the Russian invasion. Days of heavy bombardment from the air and ground artillery assaults have demolished much of the small but strategically important metropolis of 21,000 people.

Most of the civilians living in Volnovakha managed to escape before Russian soldiers and armoured vehicles arrived, footage of which has been captured on social media.

In general, Volnovakha with its infrastructure as such no longer exists.

Pavlo Kyrylenko “ “ G overnor of the Donetsk region

President Vladimir Putin's forces are intensifying their efforts to take key cities including the besieged port of Mariupol, less than 65km south of Volnovakha and where more than 2000 people have died so far.

Subjugating Mariupol, which had a population of almost half a million before the war, would create a land bridge for Mr Putin from western Russia to Crimea, which he seized in 2014.

Its people have been cut off from electricity, gas, water and telephone and internet communications — their only contact with the outside world coming through aid agencies’ satellite phones and those part of the local administration.

There are a lot of such people inside Mariupol, many people who are killed and injured. They are just lying on the ground, and neighbours just digging a hole in the ground and putting the dead bodies inside.

Anonymous “ “ Medecins Sans Frontieres member

President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of waging a "war of annihilation" against his country on Saturday, March 12, and confirmed Ukraine had lost about 1300 troops so far.

More than three million Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia's invasion started on February 24, and two million people have been internally displaced, according to the UN.

In response, Ukraine claims 13,800 Russian troops have been killed or captured, with 430 tanks and 1,375 armoured vehicles knocked out of action.