Mariupol City council claims residents are being FORCED into Nazi-type Russian 'filtration' camps
Thousands of Mariupol residents are being “forcibly” moved to cities in the Russian interior, the Mariupol City Council claimed. The civilians were taken into "filtration" camps, which the city’s mayor compared with Nazi concentration camps. Russian forces allegedly transported them to remote cities in Russia after seizing their documents and phones.
The news surfaced after from Mariupol City Council made the shocking claims in a statement released on Telegram. “Over the past week, several thousand residents of Mariupol have been taken to Russian territory,” the press release says. “The occupiers illegally drove away people from the Levoberezhny district and a bomb shelter in a sports club building, where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from constant bombing.”
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The press release claimed that the Ukrainian military “retreated from crowded places” to avoid enemy bombing raids. “What the occupiers are doing today is familiar to the older generation, who saw the horrific events of World War II, when the Nazis forcibly captured people,” the press release from Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said. “It is hard to imagine that in the 21st century people can be forcibly taken to another country. Russian troops are not only destroying our peaceful Mariupol, they have gone even further and started driving away Mariupol residents. All war crimes by Russia must get the most severe punishment.”
Mariupol has witnessed constant shelling, leading to at least 20,000 Ukrainians fleeing. Reportedly, aat least 2,300 citizens have been killed in the area. In one recent incident, a video captured the moment an elderly man was blasted to death by a Russian tank on the streets of Mariupol. Ukrainian forces released the clip, calling the incident a "murder". They have referred it to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The footage, shot in Mariupol on Tuesday, March 15, shows a Russian tank hidden among the ruins of a building. It then opens fire on a civilian, reportedly an elderly man, killing him on the spot. The shell was seen hitting the building behind him, with flame and smoke exploding.
Just days ago, Vladimir Putin hit a new low after Russian troops bombed a theater said to be sheltering up to 1,200 people, with the word 'children' written outside the building. The Mariupol Drama Theatre was being used to house people and shelter them from shelling, with meals being provided.
"The theatre building served as shelter for hundreds of Mariupol residents who had lost their homes as a result of Russian armed forces bombing and shelling the city," Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement. "The bomb strike demolished the central part of the theatre building, causing large numbers of people to be buried under the debris. The assessment of the exact number of persons affected is currently impossible due to ongoing shelling.By delivering a purposeful bomb attack to the place of mass gathering of civilians Russia has committed another war crime. Putin’s regime has long since crossed the line of humanity."
Local MP Sergiy Taruta claimed that the theatre had become a shelter “in which the residents of the blockaded Mariupol sought respite from the continuous shelling”. "There were a huge number of people hiding from the shelling. There is some fierce fighting going on right now," he reportedly said. "Many Mariupol citizens were hiding in the theatre, with small children."