Ukrainian citizens are being abducted and sent to forced-labour camps in Russia, claimed one of the nation's MPs on Sunday. Inna Sovsun said that information being shared throughout Mariupol is that thousands of her countrymen and women are being forced into slave labour.
Mariupol has been under heavy attack from Russian forces and much of the city has been completely destroyed by the siege. While the claims that thousands of Mariupol's residents are being abducted and sent to Russia are unverified, Ms Sovsun said that is the information being shared by the city's authorities.
Speaking to Times Radio, she said: “The very logic of Russia right now is the logic of the Soviet Union and the logic of Nazi Germany. It is a completely totalitarian state, and it is acting as one.
“So, from what we know from the city mayor and the city council, is they are taking Ukrainian citizens. They are sending them through what are called the ‘filtration camps’ and then they are being relocated to very distant parts of Russia, where they are being forced to sign papers (saying) that they will stay in that area for two or three years and they will work for free in those areas.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, used his daily address to thank other nations for their contribution towards his nation's defence.
"The contribution of these people to our defence is so significant that the orders and the title of Hero of Ukraine for them is the minimum we can give," he said. "Just to express gratitude. To them and to all our heroes. Thanks to which we are holding on."
Earlier in the day Mr Zelensky addressed Israel's parliament by video link where the possibility of Jerusalem providing a location for peace talks was discussed.
The president also thanked Boris Johnson following talks regarding next week's G7 and Nato summits, and celebrity couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis for raising $35 million towards helping internally displaced persons (IDPs).
In other news Russia demanded that Ukrainians in the besieged city of Mariupol lay down their arms in exchange for a safe passage out of town. Ukraine has rejected the offer, however.
The demand came hours after Ukrainian authorities said Moscow’s forces bombed an art school that was sheltering about 400 people. Western military analysts say that even if the city is taken, the troops battling for control there may be too depleted to secure Russian breakthroughs on other fronts.
Russian news agency Tass reported that Putin's forces were willing to facilitate two corridors out of the coastal city, heading either east towards Russia or west to other parts of Ukraine.
Elsewhere it was reported that a plot has emerged to assassinate Vladimir Putin and remove him from power, according to a Ukrainian intelligence service. They say the president is being targeted by a group of "Russian elites" who have already selected a successor to the 69-year-old.
The Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine said he believes a plan has been drawn up to take drastic action as there is dismay at the impact the war and subsequent sanctions have had on the Russian economy. FSB director Oleksandr Bortnikov has been lined up to replace Putin, reported the Daily Mirror.
The agency suggested the losses incurred by Chechen forces in the north of the country may have influenced the alleged plot.
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