Explosions reported near airport in Russian-occupied Mariupol

There was a series of explosions in Russian-occupied Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast on July 12, said Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the city's exiled mayor.

Andriushchenko shared photos and videos showing plumes of smoke rising over Mariupol. Explosions near a city's airport were captured in videos shared on Telegram, with another detonation reported later by Telegram channels.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims. Russia and the Ukrainian military have not yet commented on the reports.

Mariupol came under siege by Russian forces between February and May 2022, leaving thousands dead and reducing Mariupol to rubble.

According to authorities' rough estimates, at least 25,000 people may have been killed during the siege of Mariupol. The exact number remains unknown and could be much higher.

In early July, the Atesh partisan group claimed it had sabotaged a key railway connection between Russia's Rostov-on-Don and the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol used by the Russian military.

Guardian: Russia accused of ‘deliberate’ starvation tactics in Mariupol in submission to ICC

Russia used a “deliberate pattern” of starvation tactics during its three-month siege of the city of Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, in early 2022, which could amount to war crime, according to a lawyers’ analysis submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Guardian reported on June 13.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova