The agency indicated that the process of burying the deceased has been complicated because the recovered bodies must first pass through the morgue and be claimed from the forces of the Kremlin who control the city
Photo Bernat Armangue/AP
At least 22,000 residents of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, died during the three-month bombardment and siege by Russian troops of that coastal city , according to calculations by the Mayor’s advisor, Petro Andriushchenko.
“Mariúpol is now a city of ghosts”, specified the municipal advisor in statements to the chain CNN when describing the situation in which the city finds itself.
Andriushchenko added that this death toll is based on calculations he and other city officials have made through contacts with other municipal workers still trapped in the city.
However, the advisor said he believed that the real death toll could be much higher.
At least 22,000 residents of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, were killed during the three-month bombardment and siege by Russian troops. AP Photo
He also indicated that the process of burying the dead has been complicated, since the recovered bodies must first go through the morgue and be claimed by someone from the Russian forces that control the city.
And the person who claims them is forced to agree to be recorded on video in which he has to ensure that the deceased was killed by the Ukrainian army, denounced Andriushchenko.
Being controlled by the Russians, the local administrations of Mariupol are being replaced by new organizations imposed by the invaders, although some of their officials remain in the city and try to tell the outside world what is happening in the area, with data that cannot be verified with independent sources.
Photo AP
Andriushchenko already reported on Tuesday the finding of almost 200 bodies in a state of decomposition under the rubble in one of the basements of the port city.< /p>
The city of Mariupol, on the shores of the Sea of Azov, has been practically destroyed by Russian bombing since the Russian invasion of the country began on 24 February.
Besieged by the Russian army, its population has suffered the largest humanitarian crisis in the country and has been reduced from almost half a million inhabitants to less than one hundred thousand who currently reside mind among its ruins.
(With information from EFE)