Tens of thousands of people were killed in Mariupol, which is blockaded by the occupants, during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this during a speech before the South Korean parliament.
"Mariupol is destroyed. There are tens of thousands of dead, but even so, the Russians are not stopping the offensive operation. They want to make Mariupol a demonstrably destroyed city," Zelensky said.
The head of state stressed that the situation in the city is getting worse every day. The city has been blockaded by Russian troops since March 1.
The President also noted that "there is and can be no hope that Russia will just stop on its own. There is and can be no hope that reason will win and the Russian leadership will simply refuse to continue this war. Russia can only be forced to do this. It can only be forced to look for peace.
The Mariupol City Council reported that on the outskirts of the city the occupants had set up a collection point for the bodies of murdered people. Cleanup teams are removing hundreds of corpses every day.
According to British intelligence, since Russia used phosphorus munitions in eastern Ukraine, it may do so again - in the fight for Mariupol.
