Chilling information, which, however, have not yet been confirmed, that Russian soldiers are digging up bodies in Mariupol to hide the scale of the horror they have caused.
According to reports from the city council on Telegram, the Russians are not letting residents bury people who were killed and are making every effort to ensure that the exact number of dead cannot be calculated.
The BBC, which highlighted this, has yet to confirm these claims. However, the mayor of Mariupol, Vadim Boychenko, supported the claims.
"The Russians do not want the bodies of civilians killed by enemy weapons to be seen," the mayor of Mariupol says.
The Russians have been besieging and shelling Mariupol for six weeks, and in earlier reports Volodymyr Zelensky cited more than 10,000 dead.
THE MOST IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS OF THE WAR HERE
Reports of the dead have been distracting, in recent hours, most international networks and a major debate has begun over an investigation into war crimes in Russia, with the US adopting the term "genocide" regarding the Kremlin's actions.
And in recent days Zelensky has made repeated calls for new military aid, following the atrocities in Mariupol, Butchnya and Kramatorsk.
However, the governor of Mariupol has asserted in recent statements that Ukrainian forces still maintain control of the city.
Mariupol under siege
Mariupol is under Russian siege with fighting between Russian and Ukrainian soldiers raging around both the Illich Steel and Iron Works and the port area. "The situation in Mariupol is difficult and tough. Fighting is raging at the moment. The Russian army is constantly calling for additional units to enter the city," said Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanik. "But so far the Russians have not been able to fully understand it," he said at a televised briefing.
Motuzyanik noted that Russia used long-range bombers to attack Mariupol for the first time since its invasion on February 24 and that Russian forces are concentrating their operations on capturing the towns of Rubeznoye, Popasna in eastern Ukraine.
He also described the loss of the Russian cruiser Moskva, which sank last night, as significant. However, he said he was not authorized to give information about a factory near the capital Kiev that the Russian Defense Ministry claimed it hit with missiles overnight.
Recall that earlier on Friday Moscow said it had taken full control of the Illich Steel and Iron Works facility in Mariupol and warned of more strikes on targets in Kiev.
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