'Mariupol has been destroyed' - Zelenskyy says over 10,000 dead in strategic port city

Damage is seen on apartment buildings after shelling from fighting on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine. Picture: AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov

Ukraine on Monday said tens of thousands of people have likely been killed in Russia's assault on the southeastern city of Mariupol while the country's rights ombudswoman accused Russian forces in the region of torture and executions.

Mariupol has seen some of most significant fighting and destruction of the war so far, as well as a number of alleged crimes. A strategic city, it lies between Russian-annexed Crimea and eastern areas of Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists.