War in Ukraine: Kyiv denounces abduction of Mariupol residents and their forcible transfer to Russia

“Terror that will be remembered for centuries to come” is its siege Mariupol from the Russian forcessaid the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, while the local authorities of the ruined Ukrainian city complain that thousands of residents have been abducted by Russian forces and transferred to Russia.

“In the last week, many thousands of Mariupol residents have been abducted and forcibly transferred to Russian territory,” the Mariupol city council said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

Russian news agencies have reported that buses have carried hundreds of people whom Moscow has called refugees from Mariupol in recent days.

More than 2,100 people have been killed in Mariupol since the start of the Russian offensive on February 24, according to Kyiv.

The survivors have taken refuge in basements and are facing a number of shortages. Residents who escaped from Mariupol talk about corpses lying in the streets for days, about hunger, thirst and the bitter cold.

Mariupol is of strategic importance to the Kremlin as its occupation will allow territorial continuity between the Moscow-bound Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and Donbass in eastern Ukraine, while excluding Ukraine from access to the Sea of ​​Azov.

Source: News Beast

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