Ukraine: More than 10,000 people dead

The streets of Mariupol have been “carpeted” with the bodies of more than 10,000 citizens slain by Russian forces over the last six weeks, the city’s mayor claimed, as Western powers warned of a continued buildup for a possible Russian invasion in Ukraine’s east.

In order to assist operations in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the Donbas area, where Russian-allied rebels have declared independence, the British Ministry of Defense said that Russian military were continuing their withdrawal from Belarus.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted that “fighting in eastern Ukraine would increase over the coming two to three weeks as Russia continues to direct its efforts there”. Donetsk and Luhansk are still under assault by Russian forces, with more combat taking place outside Kherson and Mykolaiv and a fresh drive towards Kramatorsk.

A six-week-old conflict has witnessed some of the most brutal attacks and human suffering, but Russian troops battling to conquer the port city of Mariupol are progressively limiting information about what is going on within.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko accused Russian soldiers of blocking weeks of attempted relief convoys entering the city to cover the deaths. Boychenko estimated the death toll in Mariupol at 20,000.

Boychenko further clarified Ukrainian claims that Russian troops transported mobile cremation equipment to Mariupol to dispose of siege victims’ bodies.

Boychenko claimed Russian soldiers took numerous corpses to a major retail complex with storage and freezers. Mobile crematoriums have come in the shape of trucks.

Boychenko talked from an area held by Ukraine but outside Mariupol. The mayor stated he had many sources for his account of Russian soldiers burning corpses in the city, but did not elaborate.

Many apparently executed civilians were discovered after Russian forces retreated from cities and towns around Kiev, prompting widespread condemnation and accusations that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine.

Officials say Russia’s military is preparing for a major offensive in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, after failing to capture Kyiv.

Fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces has ravaged Donbas since 2014. Local support, logistics, and terrain in Donbas appear to favour Russia’s larger and better-armed military, allowing Russian troops to gain more territory and weaken Ukrainian fighting forces, military strategists say.

Russia has re-enlisted a veteran general to lead its eastern Donbass offensive.

A long Russian convoy with artillery, aviation, and infantry support is now rolling toward the eastern city of Izyum, according to a senior US defence official.

Officials are deploying more artillery near Donetsk and refitting and resupplying ground combat units that withdrew from Kyiv and Chernihiv, the official said on condition of anonymity to discuss internal US military assessments.

With many of their offensives thwarted, Russian forces have turned to bombarding cities, a strategy that has destroyed many cities and killed thousands.

Almost two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes in the six weeks since Russia invaded. The UN has confirmed 142 deaths and 229 injuries among children, though the actual number is likely much higher.

Russian forces are accused of killing 57 people last week at a train station in Bucha, Ukraine, and airstrikes on hospitals.

Exhumation of a mass grave in Bucha resumed.

A month after her 50-year-old son was shot and killed, Galyna Feoktistova went home for some warmth after waiting in the cold and rain for hours. “He’s still there,” Andriy said.

Around 120,000 people in Mariupol lack food, water, heat, and communication, the mayor said.

Boychenko says only those who have passed the Russian “filtration camps” are allowed to leave.

Ukrainian officials claim Russian troops are seizing Ukrainian passports and transporting them to separatist-held camps in eastern Ukraine before sending them to economically depressed regions of Russia.

Boychenko said Monday that those who failed the “filtering” were sent to makeshift prisons. He said 33,000 or more people were deported to Russia or separatist Ukraine.

Russian denies coercing people.

The Ukrainian president warned that Russia might use chemical weapons in Mariupol. “We take this very seriously,” Zelenskyy said Monday night.

Before Russian troops entered Ukraine, Western leaders warned that Russia could use unconventional weapons, particularly chemical agents.

According to Eduard Basurin, a Russian-backed separatist official, Russian-backed forces should seize a massive metals plant in Mariupol by first blocking all exits. “Then we’ll smoke them out,” he said.

On Monday, a Ukrainian regiment claimed a drone had dropped a poisonous substance in Mariupol. It said no serious injuries.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the US could not confirm the Mariupol drone report. He noted the administration’s concerns “about Russia using riot control agents, such as tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine.”

Military analysts say Russia’s offensive is increasingly targeting an arc of territory from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, to Kherson, in the south.

Defiant Ukrainian defenders thwarted the Russians’ advance on Kyiv, raising doubts about their ability to gain much ground.

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