The Mariupol City Council alleged that Russian forces are using a mobile crematorium to cover up their actions in the southeastern port city of Ukraine.

Mariupol possesses strategic importance to Russia because it is situated between the Crimean Peninsula, which has been occupied by Moscow since 2014, and the breakaway Ukrainian regions in the eastern part of the country that has a pro-Russian separatist faction. As a result, the city has faced some of the most brutal Russian war tactics since the invasion began on Feb. 24.