Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Sunday described Russian actions in the eastern European country as a “chapter from World War II,” hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that another world war could be on the cards if negotiations failed between Kyiv and Moscow.

“First they came to destroy the cities, bombing hospitals, theaters, schools, and shelters, killing civilians and children,” wrote foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko on Twitter.

“Then they forcibly relocated the scared, exhausted people to the invader’s land. A chapter from WWII? No – the actions of the Russian army, today in Mariupol,” he further said.

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Nikolenko’s comments came a day after the City Council of the besieged port city of Mariupol alleged that residents were being forcibly taken to Russia against their will.

“Over the past week, several thousand Mariupol residents have been taken to Russian territory,” the City Council said on Saturday.

“The occupiers illegally took people from the Livoberezhny district and from the shelter in the sports club building, where more than a thousand people [mostly women and children] were hiding from the constant bombing,” the statement further said.

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Some of the captured residents were then allegedly taken to camps where Russian forces checked their phones and documents before sending them to remote Russian cities, while the “fate of the others is unknown,” the city went on to say.

“What the occupiers are doing today is familiar to the older generation, who saw the horrific events of World War II, when the Nazis forcibly captured people. It is hard to imagine that in the 21st century people can be forcibly taken to another country,” said Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Russia has indiscriminately bombed cities across the eastern European country killing hundreds of innocent civilians, while more than 6.5 million people have fled Ukraine to escape the constant Russian bombardment.