Based on testimonies from locals, the Mariupol city council said: “A guard has been appointed in each yard and does not allow Mariupol residents to rest dead relatives or friends.” The southern port of the city has suffered some of the fiercest fighting in the war – at a horrific cost to civilians. A woman passes in front of a building damaged by bombing in Mariupol, Ukraine. On Thursday, the mayor of Mariupol said the latest estimates show that more than 20,000 civilians have been killed in the city since Russia launched its attacks seven weeks ago. The council’s claim that Russian soldiers are digging up corpses could not be independently verified. “Why the exhumation is taking place and where the bodies will be transported is unknown,” the council continued. On Friday, Russian troops were also accused of killing seven people after opening fire on buses carrying civilians to the northeast. For analysis of the biggest stories by experts, listen to the podcast What you need to know A spokesman for the regional prosecutor’s office told Ukraine’s Suspilne news website that 27 people were injured in the attack in the Ukrainian village of Borovaya, near the city of Kharkiv. Ukrainian law enforcement is working to determine the circumstances of the attack, said Dmytro Chubenko. He added that researchers are also determining the routes and destination of vehicles carrying civilians to the Russian-controlled area around Borovaya. Chubenko said Ukrainian authorities had opened criminal proceedings in connection with a suspected “violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder”. on the outskirts of Kiev. It has vowed to step up rocket attacks on the Ukrainian capital after admitting that its Black Sea Fleet flagship had sunk.
