Russian officials have said that 3,000 civilians have died during the siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, DPA reported, noting that these are the first such figures that Moscow has released.

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According to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the damage caused to the city during the long siege was worth 176 billion rubles ($2.4 billion).

Moscow blames the deaths and destruction in Mariupol on Kyiv, although international organizations say Russian forces committed a large number of war crimes in taking the city.

Fighting in Mariupol, which is located in the Donetsk region, began in February and lasted until May.

Kyiv said the artillery shelling and humanitarian disaster in the city had claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians.

The European Union and the United Nations have also accused Moscow of committing war crimes in the capture of Mariupol.

The Russian occupiers completely destroyed the Drama Theater in Mariupol

However, Moscow blames the city's Ukrainian defenders.

The Russian Investigative Committee, headed by Alexander Bastrykin, who is a close confidant of President Vladimir Putin, said that three thousand civilians were killed by Ukrainian soldiers.

The massive destruction of civilian infrastructure was solely due to Ukrainian forces using it for military purposes, the Investigative Committee claimed. 

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Mariupol