15,000 civilians illegally deported from Mariupol to Moscow, officials say

Ukrainian officials on Thursday charged Russia with deporting about 15,000 civilians illegally from the city of Mariupol to Russia’s capital of Moscow, Reuters reported. 

“Residents of the Left Bank district are beginning to be deported en masse to Russia. In total, about 15,000 Mariupol residents have been subjected to illegal deportation,” the Mariupol city council said in a statement. 

Officials also said that civilians who remained trapped in the city of Mariupol, which has been heavily bombarded by Russia, are struggling to live without access to food, water, power, or heating, according to Reuters. 

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said at a video briefing that authorities are still working on securing an agreement with their Russian counterparts in the hope of opening a safe corridor to and from Mariupol for remaining residents. 

Authorities also said that thousands of residents were taken by Russian forces to undisclosed areas across the border, with Russian news outlets reporting that buses had carried several hundred refugees from Mariupol to Russia in the past few days, Reuters reported. 

This comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the city of Mariupol has been “reduced to ashes” by Russian airstrikes.

Russian officials have denied targeting civilians, while the Biden administration on Wednesday formally accused Russia of committing war crimes.