Mariupol's human toll: 'He was my only son'

reuters.com: STORY: At a cemetery outside Mariupol, the Ukrainian port city captured by Russia last week after a brutal three-month siege, a grief-stricken mother is inconsolable.

Natalya Voloshina’s only son, Vladimir, was killed on March 26 as he was heading to the basement in the family’s home.

NATALYA: “He fell, legs in the air. When the forensic physician examined him, there was a shrapnel wound to his head from a shell.”

Vladmir’s Godmother, with Natalya at his grave, also stood in disbelief.

“Someone just took aim and fired. Aiming at private residential blocks.”

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians, something that Moscow denies.

Vladimir, who was 28, had recently graduated from a local naval academy.

NATALYA: “He was meant to set sail in February. [FLASH] And then the war started – and for no good reason."

Mariupol, a once-bustling port city in southeastern Ukraine, quickly became a target after Russia invaded the country on February 24, in what it calls a special military operation.

After a siege that Ukraine says killed tens of thousands, the city fell into Russian hands… and now lies in ruins.

An exception being its rows and rows of makeshift wooded crosses, and freshly-dug graves.