Russia-Ukraine Conflict: 228 Killed In Kyiv Since Start Of Offensive, Thousands Flee Besieged Mariupol

More than three weeks have passed since Russia began its military operation against Ukraine, the biggest land invasion in Europe since World War II.

(File Photo) A woman reacts as she stands outside destroyed apartment buildings following shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine. / Credit: ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty

New Delhi: 228 people have been killed in Ukraine's capital city Kyiv since the beginning of Russia's "special military operation" in the conflict-ridden country, the city authorities said on Saturday.

As per a report by news agency Reuters, Kyiv city authorities stated that the 228 fatalities in the capital include four children.

In a statement, the Kyiv city administration also informed that a further 912 people have been wounded as the capital braves Russia's attacks.

More than three weeks have passed since Russia began its military operation against Ukraine, the biggest land invasion in Europe since World War II.

Russian Soldiers Forcing Mariupol Residents To Be Relocated To Russia, Claims City Council

The Mariupol city council has claimed that Russian soldiers have forced several thousand city residents to be relocated to Russia, The Associated Press reported.

"The occupiers are forcing people to leave Ukraine for Russian territory," the council's statement read, as per the report.

"The occupiers illegally took people out of the Levoberezhny district and a shelter in the building of a sports club, where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from constant bombing," it added.

Russian forces continue to advance deeper into the besieged and battered port city as heavy fighting shut down a major steel plant on Saturday. Local authorities are pleading for more Western help.

"Children, elderly people are dying. The city is destroyed and it is wiped off the face of the earth," Mariupol police officer Michail Vershnin said from a rubble-strewn street, as reported by AP.

Evacuations from Ukraine's besieged cities proceeded via eight of 10 humanitarian corridors, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk informed on Saturday. 

As per AP, a total of 6,623 people were evacuated, including 4,128 from Mariupol who were taken northwest to Zaporizhzhia.

(With Inputs From Agencies)