Russian invaders forcibly deported more than 30,000 residents of the city of Mariupol, Donetsk region, to the Russian territory, Head of Donetsk regional military administration Pavlo Kyrylenko has said.

"They take people to their so-called filtration camps, which are located near Mariupol. These are, for example, settlements along the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov. When they take people there, they separate them into women with children and men. They divide them according to age criteria. And after that they take documents certifying that they are citizens of Ukraine," Kyrylenko said at a briefing at the Ukraine Media Center.

The head of Donetsk regional administration said the occupiers distribute certificates developed according to their own samples to the residents of Mariupol and then forcibly take them to the previously occupied areas of Donetsk region, or to the Russian territory.