Russia Accused Of Genocide Over Mass Graves With Up To 9,000 Civilians Near Mariupol

On Thursday, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko revealed that as many as 9,000 Ukrainian civilians could have been executed by Russian soldiers and buried in mass graves outside the city.

“Then Hitler killed Jews, Roma and Slavs. And now Putin is destroying Ukrainians. He has already killed tens of thousands of civilians in Mariupol,” Boychenko said, according to his city council.

“This requires a strong reaction from the entire world. We need to stop the genocide by any means possible,” he added.

The news comes shortly after Boychenko told the Associated Press that corpses were “carpeted through the streets of our city” and that the final death toll caused by the Russians could be more than 20,000.

“Boychenko also said Russian forces have brought mobile crematoria to the city to dispose of the bodies and accused Russian forces of refusing to allow humanitarian convoys into the city in an attempt to disguise the carnage,” the AP reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky similarly stated that “tens of thousands” were dead in the city.

“Mariupol has been destroyed, there are tens of thousands of dead, but even despite this, the Russians are not stopping their offensive,” Zelensky said in an interview with South Korean lawmakers.