At least 8,000 people killed in Mariupol due to Russian invasion from March 2022 to February 23 - HRW

At least 8,000 people were killed in Mariupol between March 2022 and February 2023 due to Russia's full-scale invasion. This was reported by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, which published a large-scale investigation to document the destruction and losses in Mariupol, UNN reports. 

Details

The international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), together with the Ukrainian human rights organization Truth Hounds, has published a large-scale investigation into how Russia seized Mariupol in the spring of 2022.

The report is based on 240 interviews with mostly displaced people from Mariupol conducted by HRW and Truth Hounds, as well as analysis of more than 850 photos and videos, documents and dozens of satellite images taken by HRW and SITU Research. The multimedia materials include 3D reconstructions of seven buildings damaged during the illegal attacks, graphic images of damaged hospitals and schools, and analysis of grave sites.

Our assessment of satellite imagery and analysis of photos and video of city cemeteries, which have seen a significant increase in the number of graves, shows that between March 2022 and February 2023, more than 10,000 people were buried in Mariupol, of whom we estimate at least 8,000 likely died from war-related causes, whether direct attacks, lack of medical care or clean water

The report states that based on the analysis of satellite images, drone video, as well as photographs and videos of the gravesites, it was estimated that between the end of February 2022 and mid-February 2023, at least 10,284 people were buried in five cemeteries in and around Mariupol: Mangush, Novotroitske, Starokrymske, and Vynohradny cemeteries and the cemetery on Pavlova Street. This number is simply the minimum number of people who were probably buried in these locations between these dates.

It is noted that this is not an estimate of how many people died during the hostilities or how many people died during this period for other reasons, including lack of medical care and poor water quality, or for reasons unrelated to the war. Among those who died as a result of attacks, it is impossible to determine how many of these deaths were unlawful.

HRW notes that this is a minimum estimate of the number of people buried during this period.

"This is likely to be a significant underestimate of the total number of people who died during this period, given that some victims' remains may have been left in the rubble of destroyed buildings, some graves may contain multiple bodies, and some of the wounded or sick may have died or been buried outside the city. It will probably take many more years to understand the exact number of Mariupol residents who were killed or died during this period," the report says.