President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was impossible to establish the real number of victims of Russian aggression in occupied Mariupol, but Ukraine had information about over 20,000 people killed.

Source: Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with Italian journalist Cecilia Sali for Il Foglio Italian newspaper

Quote from Volodymyr Zelenskyy:"No [it is impossible to establish the number of victims - ed.] in Mariupol. It's impossible to estimate this without appropriate work on the ground. We had information that the Russians killed about 20,000 people. But I can't say specifically.

There were thousands of people in captivity. And most of them were from this front. We have brought 4,000 prisoners of war back, and there are thousands more.

Furthermore, we believe they [the Russians - ed.] took approximately 19,500 children from the south, especially from Mariupol in Kherson Oblast. What happened to the children? They have not been found. In addition, we know that certain military personnel, as well as the entire civilian population, who went on strike in Mariupol, were either killed or taken to prison and tortured. These are hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands. 

In addition, there was combat, and lots of people were killed beneath the debris. That's why they wanted to reconstruct these buildings quickly."

Details: Zelenskyy cited the example of Grozny in Chechnya, which was destroyed and rebuilt. The president says this was done, among other things, to hide the number of victims.

Background: 

• Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, has been under Russian occupation since the spring of 2022. 
• Vadym Boichenko, the Mayor of  Mariupol, said in April 2022 that more than 10,000 people had been killed during the Russian siege. 

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