The mayor of the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol has stressed the need for safe evacuation routes for residents.

Vadym Boichenko spoke in an online interview with NHK on Wednesday. He is now in another city, organizing the evacuation of civilians.

He said the situation in Mariupol is tragic, with people in the city facing a lack of water, food, electricity, heating and means of communication. He said water is the biggest problem, and the situation has become a humanitarian crisis.

Boichenko said street battles continue, and half of the central part of the city is occupied by Russian forces.

He said more than 100,000 people are still left behind in the city and accused Russian forces of obstructing transportation of relief supplies and the evacuation of civilians.

The mayor also said Russia is blocking transport of 200 tons of humanitarian supplies prepared by the Ukrainian government.

He said Russia is afraid that its war crimes will be revealed to international organizations, such as the United Nations and the Red Cross.

Boichenko said the fighting needs to stop for at least two weeks so as to secure safe evacuation routes. He called for efforts from the international community to achieve those objectives.