Greek Consul, last European diplomat in Mariupol, returns to Athens

Greece's consul general in Mariupol, Manolis Androulakis, the last remaining European diplomat in the Ukrainian city besieged by the Russian army, arrived in Athens on Sunday after a risky evacuation.

“Mariupol will add to the list of cities in the world completely destroyed by the war, such as Guernica, Stalingrad, Grozny or Aleppo,” Androulakis told reporters at the airport.

The diplomat, who left Mariupol on Tuesday, called on the population to “join their voices to call for a truce, a ceasefire”.

“Right now, civilians are beaten blindly and helplessly,” he said-

Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky said that the siege of Mariupol, a strategic port city in the southeast of the country, where public services and communications have been cut off for days, will be considered a war crime.

Androulakis managed to organize many successful evacuations of Greek expatriates from Mariupol and was treated by the Greek media as a hero.

kan/pc/mb