Residents of the Russian-occupied Russian port city of Mariupol “are forced to hunt pigeons for food,” Mariupol deported mayor Vadim Poichenko said in a statement Monday.
War in Ukraine: Mariupol, a completely destroyed cityPhoto: Profimedia Images
Boichenko says residents use “temporary traps” to catch pigeons, and that Russian forces “make fun of those who lived their entire lives before the war – not knowing what hunger or lack of drinking water meant”.
“These terrible things are happening in the 21st century, in the heart of Europe, in front of the whole world,” he added.
The Ukrainian mayor’s statement concludes with some suggestions on the health risks of those who are forced to eat pigeons, provided by Oleksandr Lazarenko, head of the Center for Primary Health Care. From Mariupol 3:
“Pigeons are an environment conducive to the development of many viral, bacterial and fungal diseases, which can lead to meat infections, histoplasmosis, encephalitis, ornithosis, salmonellosis, toxoplasmosis and other life-threatening diseases. Even lead.
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