(Photo: Maximilian Clarke/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire) Residents of Mariupol stock up on supplies in a bombed-out neighborhood in early April. Families cowered for weeks in damp basements with hardly any food or water. To get a clearer picture, OCCRPвЂ™s Ukrainian member center spoke with ten people who were taken to Russia, almost all from the occupied southeastern city of Mariupol.ДЄs the Russians advanced on the city this spring, aircraft and artillery blanketed it with daily shelling that left entire neighborhoods uninhabitable and killed thousands. Researchers and human rights groups have been unable to make independent assessments, though sporadic reports of involuntary deportations have appeared in the media. Where they differ is the interpretation: While the Russians call them voluntary evacuations in the interests of safety, Ukraine says its citizens are being forcibly deported in violation of the Geneva Conventions. Similar figures have been cited by both governments. Since RussiaвЂ™s invasion of Ukraine, over a million Ukrainian citizens have been taken to Russian territory. (Photo: Jaanus Lensment / Ekspress Meedia) They later made a risky escape to Europe. Ukrainian officials, and many refugees themselves, say they were forced against their will.ДЄ refugee from eastern Ukraine who unwillingly found herself in Russia with her two sons. Countless Ukrainians have ended up in Russia since the invasion.

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