‘Tens of thousands' dead in Mariupol — and fears Putin may use phosphorous

Zelensky braces his country for Putin’s onslaught in the east

- Nicholas Cecil

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY said today that tens of thousands of people are likely to have been killed in Vladimir Putin’s massacre in Mariupol as British defence chiefs warned he may use phosphorous munitions in his desperation to seize the city.

On day 47 of the war, Ukraine’s president told of the horrendous death toll in the besieged city which has been shelled and bombed for weeks into destruction. He also steeled his country for a Russian onslaught in the wider eastern Donbas region this week, in what could be crucial battles to decide the course of the conflict.

“Mariupol has been destroyed, there are tens of thousands of dead, but even despite this, the Russians are not stopping their offensive,” Mr Zelensky said in a video address to South Korea’s national assembly.

The accuracy of his claim on the death toll could not be confirmed.

However, large parts of Mariupol have been obliterated by Russian shelling and air strikes, including on a maternity hospital, school and theatre where hundreds of people including children were sheltering.

Fears are growing that Mr Putin may unleash even more barbaric weapons on Ukraine’s towns and cities after reportedly appointing General Alexander Dvornikov for his Donbas campaign.

Gen Dvornikov, 60, has a record for brutality as the head of Russian forces deployed to Syria in 2015 to back President Bashar Assad’s government during the country’s devastating civil war which saw the city of Aleppo obliterated by bombing and fierce fighting.