Mariupol Mayor: Putin is responsible for the massacre of thousands of civilians

The port of Mariupol and its surrounding areas have been under siege by Russian forces since the first days of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.

On Thursday evening, April 21, the Mariupol City Council, citing Vadim Boychenko, the mayor of the city, accused Russia of the massacre of civilians and called on the international community to respond to this crime.

Ukrainian sources suggest that up to 9,000 civilians may have been buried in mass graves in the abandoned town near the port.

Satellite images published in Ukrainian media, the authenticity of which has not yet been confirmed by independent sources, show a number of mass graves about 20 kilometers west of Mariupol, the number of which has been increasing since the end of March.

Comparing the killing of civilians to the actions of Nazi soldiers

The mayor of Mariupol has compared the killing of civilians in the abandoned town to the massacres committed by Nazi Germany in the Babi Yar area near Kiev during World War II.

Vadim Boychenko called the abandoned city a “new Babyn Jar,” saying that Hitler exterminated Jews, Slavs, and Roma, and now Vladimir Putin is exterminating Ukrainians. He accused the Russian president of having massacred tens of thousands of civilians in Mariupol.

Referring to the events that occurred after the siege and occupation of the region, the mayor of Mariupol called for "decisive action" from the international community to, in his words, prevent the continuation of this "massacre" by any means possible.

According to "Tagsshow", the website of German Channel One television, Ukrainian media have compared mass graves in the abandoned town with similar examples that were discovered in the area after Russian troops withdrew from the vicinity of Kiev.

According to photos, videos, and reports from the outskirts of Kiev, including the town of Bucha, Russian soldiers apparently killed a large number of civilians and buried their bodies in mass graves before retreating.

Russia has denied involvement in the killing of civilians in the outskirts of Kiev, claiming that the published images are staged and that the accusations of war crimes against Russian soldiers are unfounded.

Boychenko accused Russian soldiers of gradually collecting the bodies of civilian victims from the streets of the port city of Mariupol and transporting them by truck to mass graves dug around the abandoned town to hide their crimes.

Zelensky: Resistance continues in Mariupol

Russia claims to have completely captured the port of Mariupol, leaving only a few hundred people in a steel mill under complete siege.

The mayor of Mariupol says that there are still about 100,000 people in the city and emphasizes that it is important to understand that the fate and lives of these people are in the hands of only one person, Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his latest video message that, contrary to all the claims of the "occupiers", resistance to Russian forces in Mariupol continues.

Putin declared the complete capture of Mariupol complete on Thursday morning. Russian sources said only about 2,000 Ukrainian and foreign troops remained at the steel plant.

The Russian president has ordered a complete siege of a factory where Ukrainian soldiers and a number of civilians have taken refuge, and has called on the soldiers to lay down their weapons and surrender.