Ukrainian prosecutor's office investigates alleged deportation of citizens from Mariupol

Lviv, Ukraine, 21 Mar The Attorney General of Ukraine, Iryna Venediktova, announced the opening of an investigation into possible war crimes committed by Russia in connection with the forced transfer of residents of the besieged city of Mariupol. Venediktova stated, through her Twitter account, that under the pretext of evacuation, the Russian Army is transferring residents to Russian territory and stripping them of their passports. The Mariupol City Council reported on Sunday night, through its Telegram account, that some inhabitants of the Levoberezhny district had been “illegally deported to enemy territory” and transported to Russia or territories occupied by Moscow. “Deportees take away their Ukrainian passport and give them a paper that has no legal validity and is not recognized by the civilized world,” added the city authorities. According to the same source, “thousands” of residents, mostly women and children who were sheltering from the fighting, have been forcibly transferred in the last week to “filtration centers”, where adults' mobile phones and documents are checked. “After the inspection, some of the residents of Mariupol were transferred to distant cities in Russia, while the fate of others is unknown,” said the Council, which compared the situation to the deportations carried out by the Nazis during World War II. CHIEF int-cph/alf