Russian forces in Ukraine have forcibly deported between 20,000 and 30,000 civilian residents of the besieged city of Mariupol to areas under their control within the country or to Russia itself, local officials told Ukraine’s Pravda newspaper.
Vadym Boychenko, Mariupol’s mayor, said local officials have been doing “everything we can” to organize safe passage out of the city.
“But the Russian forces have been, and still are, doing everything they can to make sure there is not a single bus available in Mariupol. They have reduced 150 new buses to ashes,” Mr. Boychenko said.
Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov, has been a strategic target for Russian and pro-Russian forces since the Feb. 24 invasion at the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It has been under frequent shelling and was declared a humanitarian crisis by the U.N.
The mayor said he can’t understand why Russia is seizing so many residents.
“It’s difficult to say why they are doing this,” Mr. Boychenko told Pravda. “Yesterday, my neighbor — who was forcibly deported — phoned me. He went to fetch water and was taken away.”