Zelensky stated that Ukraine does not know the exact number of people killed by Russia in Mariupol.

Ukraine does not have an exact number of casualties following the occupation of Mariupol. Conducting on-site investigations is essential for this.

This information comes from RBK-Ukraine, citing a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with Il Foglio newspaper.

Zelensky explained that determining the precise number of casualties is impossible without the necessary work being conducted on-site.

"We had information that the Russians killed around 20,000 people, but I cannot say that for sure," he noted.

At the same time, the president specified that from southern Ukraine, primarily Mariupol and the Kherson region, the occupiers have taken about 19,000 children, and their whereabouts remain unknown.

Attack on the Drama Theater in Mariupol

Recall that during the siege of Mariupol on March 16, Russian troops dropped an aerial bomb on the roof of the Mariupol Drama Theater, where civilians were sheltering from shelling. The number of civilians taking refuge there ranged from 500 to 1,200 according to various sources.

According to the city council, around 300 people died in that incident, but the Associated Press conducted its own investigation and concluded that the death toll from the airstrike could have been around 600 people.

It is also worth noting that last year, human rights organizations Human Rights Watch, SITU Research, and Truth Hounds published an investigation into how Russian troops captured Mariupol in spring 2022.

In their view, Vladimir Putin, Sergey Shoigu, Ramzan Kadyrov, and others may be implicated in war crimes.