Members of the nationalist Azov battalion are holding hostage the crews of the bulk carrier Tzarevna and cargo ship Lady Augusta.

Military commanders of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) pointed out Sunday that Ukrainian nationalists seized two foreign ships in the port of Mariupol, on the coast of the Sea of Azov.

According to commanders, members of the nationalist Azov Battalion are holding hostage the crews of the bulk carrier Tzarevna and cargo ship Lady Augusta. The Marine Traffic website mentioned that the two ships sail under the Maltese and Jamaican flags respectively.

On Telegram, DPR soldiers indicated that Ukrainian nationalist detachments occupied both ships during the withdrawal process and are firing mortars, grenade launchers, and bullets from the decks.

According to the sources, the DPR and Russian forces are doing their best to save the lives of the crews held hostages.

6,271 people killed in DPR since 2014

A couple of days ago, 261 people were killed and 982 people injured in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in the first week of April as a result of hostilities and shelling from Ukraine's forces, DPR Ombudswoman Daria Morozova said.

The people killed at the hands of the Ukrainian forces include 212 employees of law enforcement agencies and 49 civilians, the top DPR human rights official revealed.

Those injured, on the other hand, included 706 employees of law enforcement agencies and 276 civilians.

Statistical information published on the ombudswoman's website shows that, in total, 6,271 people, including 96 children, have been killed in the DPR since 2014, when Kiev started launching its hostilities on what at the time was the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic.