Casualty numbers are not yet known
As Russian forces continue to lay siege to Ukraine, reports from Mariupol emerged of an art school turned to rubble, leaving citizens buried.
Local authorities announced on March 20 that an art school in the port city of Mariupol had been hit with Russian missiles. Around 400 refugees were sheltering there, but initial reports say the death toll is unknown, reports the BBC.
As news emerged of Russian forces bombing the art school in Mariupol, troubling reports of trafficking have also appeared, reports the Guardian. In a Telegram update posted by the city’s council, officials said that “several thousand Mariupol residents” were deported to Russian territories over the last week.
They continued: “The occupiers illegally took people from the Livoberezhniy district and from the shelter in the sports club building, where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from the constant bombing.”
Such claims are yet to be confirmed by Russian forces, but the council’s statement is one of several similar reports. The Kyiv Independent added that “Russians checked their phones and documents.”
Similar reports from the BBC suggest between 4,000 and 4,500 residents had been moved to Tangarog- a city in the Rostov region.
⚡️Mariupol council: Russian occupiers forcibly move thousands of Mariupol residents to Russia.
The civilians were allegedly taken to camps where Russians checked their phones and documents and then forcibly moved some of them to remote cities in Russia.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 19, 2022
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky had previously described the shelling of the “peaceful city” of Mariupol as a “terror” that “will be remembered for centuries to come.”
Pope Francis was also among the world leaders to share a statement regarding the continued onslaught of Mariupol. “The city that bears the name of the Virgin Mary, Mariupol, has become a city martyred by the ruinous war that is devastating Ukraine,” he posted to Twitter.
The city that bears the name of the Virgin Mary, Mariupol, has become a city martyred by the ruinous war that is devastating Ukraine. #LetsPrayTogether #Ukraine #Peace
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) March 13, 2022
Shocking drone footage obtained by the Telegraph shows troubling scenes of dilapidated buildings and streets void of people. In one image, an abandoned shopping mall is seemingly missing part of its roof, and in another, residential buildings are charred with black soot.
🎥 Drone footage shows devastation in Mariupol
Read more here👇https://t.co/fY9T6foDfG pic.twitter.com/Fb6hRIqJch
— Telegraph World News (@TelegraphWorld) March 20, 2022
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