24 and laid siege to the port city of Mariupol. She saw the plant as a short-term shelter before a retreat to safety elsewhere.... It's very scary underground-to be underground like moles in the dark," said 51-year-old nurse Valentyna Demyanchuk. Russia has strongly denied targeting civilians in the conflict, which it calls a" special military operation" to demilitarise Ukraine.... Authorities in Kyiv say thousands of civilians have been killed in Mariupol and has accused Moscow of war crimes.