Russian invaders are forcibly abducting women and their newborn babies in besieged Mariupol and taking them to Moscow-held territories, it has been claimed.
The city has been left a ghost town with remaining civilians hiding in basement bunkers after weeks of devastating shell attacks.
Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner Liudmyla Denisova said the vulnerable targets, as well as doctors, are being snatched by troops in the southern port city and taken to the Donbas or Russia.
Speaking on her Telegram channel on Wednesday, she claimed more than 70 such people have already been kidnapped out of a maternity hospital in the Livoberezhnyi district.
Denisova urged the world community to pressure captives to release the hostages by increasing sanctions on Vladimir Putin's country.
"Such enemy actions threaten the life and health of women and newborns, and violate their right to life, freedom and personal integrity, guaranteed by Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," she added.
Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko has also confirmed that people had been kidnapped from Mariupol.
He said troops also abducted Kira Obedynska, the 12-year-old daughter of water polo champion Yevhen Obedynskyi and taken her to the occupied city of Donetsk.
Obedynskyi was killed in Mariupol.
Kyrylenko said: "After the death of her father, Kira was left an orphan, since she had lost her mother in infancy.
"Kira is in Donetsk now, she was deported there along with the people with whom she was hiding in a shelter.
"There is information that the Russians took the documents from all those with Kira.
"They promised to issue new Russian documents and deport them to Russia in the future."
The Governor added that the girl has relatives in Ukraine.
Her grandfather, Honored Water Polo Coach of Ukraine, Oleksandr Obedynskyi, is ready to take her into his home.
Denisova said invaders have already abducted almost 500,000 people from the temporarily occupied territories.
Key Russian target Mariupol, which usually has a population of more than 400,000, is said to have been 90% destroyed in constant bombardments since the invasion began on February 24.
Invaders have now taken control of the city centre.
Repeated attempts to organise safe corridors have failed, with each side blaming the other.
A convoy of Ukrainian buses set out for the southern port city of Mariupol today to try to deliver humanitarian supplies and bring out trapped civilians, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
She said 45 buses were on their way to Mariupol after the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed Russia had agreed to open a safe corridor.
The city mayor said this week that up to 170,000 residents were trapped in Mariupol with no power and dwindling supplies.
"There are 45 buses en-route to Mariupol," Vereshchuk said in a statement.
Russia denies targeting civilians in its assault on Ukraine.
