Months after the bloody capture of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, Russia estimates that 3,000 civilians have been killed. The financial damage amounts to 176 billion rubles (2.3 billion euros), according to a report by a Russian commission of inquiry.
Fighting in the city of Mariupol (Donetsk region) began immediately after the outbreak of war on February 24. The last Ukrainian defenders of the city were captured by the Russians on May 20.
According to Kiev, tens of thousands of civilians have died as a result of the continuous artillery fire and the humanitarian emergency created by the Russian siege. The European Union and the United Nations also accused Moscow of war crimes during the fighting around Mariupol.
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However, the Russian Commission of Inquiry headed by Alexander Bastyrkin – a close confidant of Vladimir Putin – claimed that the Ukrainian soldiers are responsible for the heavy casualties. “They have used homes and hospitals for military use. That is why civil infrastructure was destroyed,” he said.
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