Ukraine's Mariupol says Russia forcefully deported thousands of its people

FILE PHOTO: A view shows a residential building which was damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 18, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

(Reuters) - The city council of Ukraine's Mariupol said Russian forces forcefully deported several thousand people from the besieged city last week, after Russia had spoken of "refugees" arriving from the strategic port.

"Over the past week, several thousand Mariupol residents were deported onto the Russian territory," the council said in a statement on its Telegram channel late on Saturday.