War in Ukraine. The horrors of war by Mariupol

AFP's Alexander Nemenov photographs the devastation in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol during an official tour organised by Russia's military. Russian troops are intensifying their battle to seize the strategic port city which they began bombarding in early March.

According to Ukrinform, the Mariupol City Council reported this on Telegram. "The houses of 84,000 Mariupol residents have been completely destroyed. This is 40% of multi-storey buildings or about 2 million square meters” the report says.

Debris covers the inside of the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theatre following a March 16, 2022, bombing in Mariupol, Ukraine, in an area now controlled by Russian forces, Monday, April 4, 2022. The bombing of the theater that was used as a shelter stands out as the single deadliest known attack against civilians to date in the Ukraine war.

Local residents walk past a building destroyed during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol.

The evacuation of civilians from Mariupol on the eve of April 1, 2022 was again disrupted.

Burned-out residential buildings on the corner of Shevchenko Boulevard and Kuprina Street in Mariupol. The city has been the site of intense fighting in recent weeks.

A man walks with his dog near an apartment building damaged by shelling from fighting on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, in territory under control of the separatist government of the Donetsk People's Republic

A service member of pro-Russian troops walks near an apartment building destroyed in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 28, 2022.

A view shows an apartment building destroyed in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 25, 2022.

A woman holds a child in an improvised bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine