• At least 287 children have perished since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• Mariupol was besieged for weeks until Russian forces stormed it in mid-May.
• The mayor said the city was experiencing a cholera outbreak because sanitation services had failed and bodies were decaying in the streets.

The prosecutor general’s office in Ukraine announced on Saturday that it had learnt of the deaths of another 24 children in Mariupol, the southeastern port that had been besieged for weeks until Russian forces stormed it in mid-May.

At least 287 children have perished since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24th, according to the office. Over 492 people have been injured.

Read more: Mariupol, Ukraine, at risk from a cholera outbreak says UK

“These figures are not final, as work is underway to establish them in places of active hostilities, in the temporarily occupied and liberated territories.”

The mayor of Mariupol, which has been reduced to ashes by the siege, said the city was experiencing a cholera outbreak because sanitation services had failed and bodies were decaying in the streets.

In what it terms a “special military operation” intended to demilitarise and “denazifying” Ukraine, Russia has denied targeting civilians and refuted claims of war crimes.

Read more: Mariupol’s first ship lefts port since Russia took control of city