At least 200-300 civilians were killed in the town of Irpin, on the northwestern outskirts of Kiev, before it was retaken from the Russians by Ukrainian forces earlier this week, the town's mayor said today.
Oleksandr Markushin announced on Monday that Ukrainian forces had regained full control of the city where fierce fighting with the Russians had been going on for several days. According to the mayor, about 50 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in Irpin and 100 others were wounded. He said that Russian shelling[/B] continued all night in the area.
"At the peak of the hostilities, when there was shelling all day, people were just buried in the gardens or parks. I think about 200-300 were killed, unfortunately," Markushin said at a press conference today. "Half the city has been destroyed," he added, explaining that "it is certain that many are still under the rubble and () we are looking in the basements."
The mayor estimates that "about 3,500" residents still remain in the city, which before the war had 60,000 inhabitants. Irpin "is under full control of Ukrainian forces" but the situation "remains dangerous", he continued, because, he explained, it is "the target of shelling from neighbouring towns, such as Butchnya."
The mayor urged residents who left not to return to the town for the time being. "Give us time! For the next month, you will not be able to return to your homes," he said. Irpin was hammered by the Russian army since the beginning of the war on February 24. In mid-March, an American journalist was killed there and another was wounded. Since then, press representatives have been denied access.
Source: CNA
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