Human Rights Watch estimated the number of killed by Russians in Mariupol to be at least 8,000 people

The human rights organization Human Rights Watch published the results of a major investigation into the consequences of the siege and storming of Mariupol by Russian troops in the first months of the war.

The investigation was conducted nearly two years after the start of the full-scale incursion in conjunction with the Ukrainian human rights group Truth Hounds and with the participation of the architectural and forensics group SITU Research, which uses architectural modeling methods to reconstruct crime scenes (it had previously modeled the scene of the murders in Buch and the attack on the crowded train station with such methods Kramatorsk with Russian cluster shells in April 2022).

The 215-page report is based on the testimony of 240 people – mostly residents of the city who managed to escape, as well as the analysis of dozens of satellite images and more than 850 photos and videos.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Russian attack killed at least 8,000 people in the city. This is a conservative estimate and is based on an analysis of the expansion of five cemeteries in and around the city.

From March 2022 to February 2023, at least 10,000 people were buried in them (some graves could hold more than one person, moreover, not all those buried in spontaneous graves (in the yards of houses, for example) were later reburied during the siege, so this is the minimum score).

Human Rights Watch estimates that 8,000 of these deaths are war-related, either violent or due to a lack of clean water and medical care in the following months.

From a population of 540,000 before the Russian invasion, by mid-May 2022, about 400,000 residents fled Mariupol.

During the Russian assault, all 19 hospital complexes of the city and 86 out of 89 educational institutions were damaged. The researchers analyzed in detail the locations of the most famous Russian strikes, including the Drama Theater and the maternity ward at Hospital No. 3. In most cases, there were no signs of a Ukrainian military presence alongside them (as often claimed by the Russian authorities), or the presence was so limited that the Russian strikes were clearly disproportionate.

After the occupation, the Russian authorities demolished many damaged buildings. This in itself does not contradict Russia’s obligations, writes Human Rights Watch, but at the same time, Russia has not given the opportunity to conduct an independent investigation and is actually engaged in the destruction of evidence. That is why 3D modeling was needed.

Human Rights Watch identified 17 Russian and pro-Russian formations operating in Mariupol and their commanders, and lists Russian officials who bear command responsibility for their actions.

The list is headed by President Vladimir Putin, followed by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and several lower-ranking generals.

It is interesting that General Mikhail Mizintsev, who was even called the “Butcher of Mariupol” by the governments of some countries, is not among them.

Two Chechen leaders – Ramzan Kadyrov and Adam Delimkhanov – and the head of the self-proclaimed and then not yet annexed DPR are listed among the persons who are not part of the military vertical of command, but bear, as Human Rights Watch believes, command responsibility for war crimes in Mariupol.