Petro Andryushchenko cited the figure in an interview with the US broadcaster CNN on Wednesday.
‘Actual figure could be much higher’
Andryushchenko, who is an advisor to Mariupol’s mayor, said that the estimated death toll was based “on the many contacts” he and fellow city officials “continue to have with officials trapped inside.”
However, “the actual figure could be much higher,” he added.
‘City of ghosts’
“Mariupol is now a city of ghosts,” Andryushchenko told CNN. "It is absolutely dark inside the city. The only lights are from Russian troops and Russian patrols. Everywhere it’s the smell of death and the smell of fire.”
He said that since Mariupol fell to the Russians, residents have been “unable to move freely,” needing special passes to move around the city.
Local people are also subject to a “filtration system” that prevents them from escaping the occupied city altogether, Andryushchenko added.
Russia had laid a bloody, months-long siege to Mariupol, eventually capturing the strategic Ukrainian city last Friday.
This happened after Ukraine ordered the defenders of the Azovstal steel plant, the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the city, to surrender.
Wednesday is day 91 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, edition.cnn.com