“Due to the situation in Mariupol, it is difficult to comment on the number of victims, the city is under siege and blockade,” the governor warned.

According to him, the authorities are currently working with information that speaks of from 20 to 22 thousand deaths. Independent estimates of victims of Russia’s relentless bombing are not available, CNN said. Russian bombs hit hospitals and theaters.

The strategically located Mariupol port on the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov has been under siege by the Russian army for 40 days. The AFP agency said Russian troops on Tuesday intensified their efforts to conquer the port city, once a population of 400,000.

The city was devastated by the shelling, and according to AFP, some 160,000 people were cut off from the world and suffering from shortages of water, food, electricity and heat.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense is also checking information about the use of chemical weapons in Mariupol. Ukraine’s Azov Regiment, which is defending the besieged city, said Russian soldiers used an unspecified “toxic substance” on Monday night in Mariupol, which was dropped on city defenders from a drone. The victims had difficulty breathing and moving.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, the regiment wrote: “Russian occupying forces used a toxic substance of unknown origin on Ukrainian soldiers and civilians in Mariupol, which was dropped from an enemy drone.”

Azov founder and politician Andriy Bileckyj told the Kyiv Independent that three people had symptoms of poisoning but did not appear to have any serious consequences for their health in the end.

Eduard Basurin, a representative of the pro-Russian separatists involved in the Mariupol siege, denies the use of chemical weapons.