Russian forces occupying the port metropolis of Mariupol are planning to decorate up Ukrainian "prisoners of conflict" in navy uniforms as a part of a "grotesque" parade that may coincide with Russia's Might 9 Victory Day celebrations, an adviser to the town's mayor stated.
In a put up on his Telegram channel, Petro Andriushchenko, adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, stated metropolis officers have obtained data that nearly 2,000 males are at present being held in so-called "filtration camps."
Ukrainian officers have described the camps within the southern Ukrainian metropolis as amenities the place Russian forces detain captured residents earlier than sending them to distant Russian places. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has in contrast them to Nazi focus camps from World Warfare II.
Andriushchenko stated the lads have been taken from the villages of Bezimenne and Kozatske nearly 4 weeks in the past.
"These males are held there and they're instructed that they are going to be made to put on the Ukrainian [military] uniform and to take part in a so-called 'conflict prisoners parade' in Mariupol as a result of they [the Russians] lack precise prisoners of conflict," the adviser stated.
"It will likely be a grotesque crowd scene for one more propaganda picture," he added.
He additionally stated that Russians are making ready to carry Might 9 Victory Day celebrations within the shattered Ukrainian metropolis. Victory Day is a vastly symbolic day for the Kremlin, and commemorates the top of World Warfare II, identified in Russia because the Nice Patriotic Warfare.
Russian representatives for the town visited on Wednesday, and put in a "scarecrow of a lady with a flag," he claimed.
Preparations for this "obscurantism" are underway, Andriushchenko added.
'Parade on Bones'
Russian forces are additionally working to clear away rubble within the metropolis for the occasion, which he described as a "parade on the bones of Mariupol residents."
Native residents have been pressured to help with clearing particles in trade for meals, he claimed.
"Work in trade for meals: That is one of the best illustration of the occupiers' 'victory,'" he wrote.
"The occupiers proceed to dismantle the particles within the metropolis heart, together with the Drama Theater, in preparation for the parade," the adviser stated.
Ukraine's protection intelligence company additionally stated on Wednesday that the Kremlin intends to show the town into a middle of "celebrations" on Victory Day.
"To this finish, the town is urgently cleansing the central streets of particles, the our bodies of these killed and unexploded ordnance," the company stated.
Newsweek has been unable to independently confirm the claims.
The studies come amid mounting hypothesis from Western officers that Russian President Vladimir Putin may use Victory Day to declare an all-out conflict on Ukraine. The Kremlin has known as such ideas "nonsense."
Russian forces intensified assaults on Mariupol after failing to seize Kyiv within the early weeks of Putin's invasion. Some 200 civilians are believed to be trapped within the metropolis's Azovstal metal works.
Mariupol is a strategic port metropolis on the Azov Sea that would offer a land hall to Crimea, which the Kremlin annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Ukrainian International Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday pushed again in opposition to Russian claims that Mariupol was absolutely below Russian management.
"Azovstal, the stronghold, the final stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol nonetheless holds," he stated.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Ministry of International Affairs for remark.
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