Local authorities claim that 200 bodies were found in a basement in Mariupol.

The grim discovery was made by workers digging through the rubble from an apartment building. It is one of the most deadly attacks of World War II.

Petro Adryushchenko, a regional adviser, said that the bodies had been decomposing and that a “stench” covered the area.

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He said that the city had become a continuous cemetery and added that a “makeshift mortuary” was set up to handle “a large amount of corpses.”

This is the latest horror that has been reported in the port city. It has been a target of Russian forces since the invasion began three months ago.

Last week, Ukrainian soldiers were instructed to cease defending the city in southern Ukraine and to “save lives of soldiers” instead.

The 2,500 soldiers stationed at Azovstal’s steel plant quickly became a focal point of the war. They were the last to fight Russian forces in the region.

The Russian troops had already taken control of the remainder of the city. There are an estimated 100,000 people still there. Many of these people were trapped during the siege without food, water or electricity.

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Russia takes Donetsk, Donetsk Region town of Svitlodarsk under its control

According to Ukrainian authorities, at least 21,000 people died in the Battle for Mariupol. Attacks were launched on places like a Maternity Hospital and a Theatre.

Russia has been accused of trying to hide the horrors of the attacks it launched by sending in mobile cremation equipment.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, has accused Russian forces waging “total warfare” and trying to inflict the most death and destruction possible.

“Indeed there hasn’t been such a battle on the European continent in 77 years,” Mr Zelenskyy stated, referring specifically to the end the Second World War.

Russia has “increased the intensity” of operations

Russia is attempting to seize control of the eastern Donbas, but Russia has had some success in this area. Severodonetsk, along with its neighbouring cities, remains the only Luhansk region that is under Ukrainian control.

According to the Ministry of Defence of the UK, Russia has “increased its intensity of operations” in the region but there is “strong Ukrainian resistance”.

It stated that Russia’s capture and occupation of the Severodonetsk Pocket would result in the entire Luhansk Oblast being under Russian control.

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Two Russian officials acknowledged that Moscow’s advance was slower than anticipated, but they promised the offensive would succeed.

Nikolai Patrushev secretary to Russia’s Security Council said that the Russian government is not “chasing deadlines”.

Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister, said that Moscow deliberately slows down its offensive in order to allow residents of encircled areas to evacuate. However, forces have repeatedly struck civilian targets.