More than 8,000 killed during 2022 Mariupol siege - Human Rights Watch

Participants attend a commemorative rally for people killed a year ago inside the building of Mariupol's Drama Theatre by Russian air strike, amid a siege on the city during Russia's invasion, in front of the Opera Theatre in Kyiv, Ukraine March 16, 2023. The inscription reads, "Children". REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

GENEVA (Reuters) - At least 8,000 people were killed by fighting or war-related causes in Russia's months-long conquest of Mariupol, one of the biggest battles of the nearly two-year war between Russia and Ukraine, according to Human Rights Watch.

Mariupol became a byword for horror during a nearly three-month-long Russian siege for control of the strategic port city between March and May 2022, with trapped civilians forced to bury their dead by the roadside.