Denis Pushilin, leader of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, said Mariupol is being cleaned up in the central regions and he expects his forces to take full control of the city in the near future, RIA reported. 

But the mayor of the Ukrainian city hasn't yet made any comment regarding the city's current situation. 

Mariupol's authorities on Monday claimed that 5,000 people have been killed since the start of the Russian siege, but it's not clear how the toll was calculated.