According to preliminary estimates, 22,000 people were killed in Mariupol.
This was stated in an interview with CNN by the Head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration [RMA] Pavlo Kyrylenko.
"The situation with Mariupol makes it difficult to comment on the number of losses, the city is under siege and blockade," he said. "We assume now that between 20,000 and 22,000 people have died in Mariupol."
The Head of the RMA added that the russians set up mobile crematoria and remove bodies of people from under the ruins and just from the streets to not controlled by Ukraine territory, and there they already destroy them, hiding evidence of mass murder.
Pavlo Kyrylenko also commented on the report of a possible chemical attack in Mariupol.
"We know that last night around midnight the drone dropped an unknown explosive device. People who were on the territory of the Mariupol Metallurgical Plant and around it, began to feel unwell," he said. "We heard that three people were injured, they were taken to hospital and provided with medical care. At the moment their lives are not in danger".
Earlier, in an interview with the Associated Press, Mayor Vadym Boychenko said that more than 10,000 people had died in the city, although the death toll could exceed 20,000.
Last night the Azov Regiment, which is defending Mariupol together with the Marines, said that at about 9:30 pm the russian occupiers used a poisonous substance of unknown origin against Ukrainian military and civilians in Mariupol.