The mayor of Mariupol, Ukraine, said Monday that over 10,000 civilians have been killed so far by the Russians.
Mayor Vadym Boychenko warned that the civilian death toll could rise to over 20,000 in the coming weeks during a call with the Associated Press (AP).
Mariupol’s mayor, Vadym Boychenko, said in an interview with the Associated Press that more than 10,000 civilians had died in his city and the death toll could exceed 20,000.https://t.co/2mNerItzkV
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) April 12, 2022
Boychenko accuses the Russians of blocking humanitarian aid into the city as a way to hide the damage from the outside world, reported the AP. Roughly 120,000 civilians in the city are in need of food, water, and communication with the rest of the world.
Russia has allegedly sent mobile cremation equipment to Mariupol to dispose of the victims of the Russian siege, the AP reported.
“Mobile crematoriums have arrived in the form of trucks: You open it, and there is a pipe inside and these bodies are burned,” Boychenko said, according to the AP.
Russian troops are allegedly taking passports from Ukrainians and later moving them to “filtration camps” in eastern Ukraine, the AP reported. Only residents who are able to pass the “filtration camps” are able to flee the city.
Residents who do not pass the “filtration camps” are sent to Russia or separatist territory in Ukraine while improvised prisons are being constructed, according to the AP. (RELATED: Deputy Secretary Of State Predicts The War Will End ‘Very Badly For Ukrainian People’)
Russian soldiers opened fire at a family’s car March 16 while fleeing Mariupol, shooting 11-year-old Milena Uralova in the face. The soldiers rendered first aid to Milena after realizing they had shot her.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said March 23 that Russia had committed war crimes in Ukraine following Russian strikes on a Mariupol maternity hospital and theater. President Joe Biden also said March 16 he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin is “a war criminal.”