News about cholera epidemic in Mariupol is a reason for russians to close the city, environmental security expert says
Environmental security specialist Maksym Soroka points out that the information about the cholera epidemic promoted in the Ukrainian media resembles disinformation and information and psychological operation, but other experts noted that there was a risk.
Last week, Ukrainian media reported Mariupol might be quarantined because of cholera and dysentery spreading in the city. Instead, experts have opposing views: some question the integrity of the information, while others believe the risk is real.
Thus, Maksym Soroka, an environmental engineer, scientist, public figure, senior researcher at the Environmental Protection Branch Research Laboratory, and an ecological safety expert, said in a comment to Rubryka:
"We gave them a good argument to close the city, find a reason for them to quarantine the city, not to allow overseers or the Red Cross mission so that they can slaughter everyone there!"
The expert does not deny that the epidemiological situation in the city is deteriorating for various reasons, and the risk of the epidemic remains. Lawyer, medical law specialist, and Deputy Minister of Health in 2014–2015 Natalia Lisnevska supports the same opinion and says the humanitarian catastrophe created by the russians in Mariupol was a violation of the Geneva Conventions, and the court may recognize it as genocide of Ukrainians:
"There may be a cholera outbreak in Mariupol and the surrounding areas because we have problems with water supply, surface burials, mixing sewage water with drinking water, and humanitarian catastrophe. International conventions forbid it, it can lead to the death of people, and yes, it can be called genocide," she said.
Find out more about Mariupol's possible cholera outbreak in the Rubryka article.