Occupied for three years by Russia, the Ukrainian city of Mariupol is far from the image of ideal reconstruction painted by Moscow. The heart of this once prosperous city has been transformed into a gigantic façade construction site. Behind the window, there are no jobs, no residents, no real repairs. However, voices are being raised to testify, document, resist and forget nothing, reports the independent Russian media The Insider.
Among these voices, Aleksandr, exiled, administers the Telegram channel Mariupol Now since March 2, 2022, a day after Russian troops entered the Ukrainian city. “We don’t invent anything, we stick to the facts”he affirms, aware of the existence of a real online fight to preserve the truth, and to depict the real daily life of residents. Its subscribers, mainly displaced people and people still living there, are looking for reliable information about the city.
The occupation authorities seek to control housing through the status of “beskhoz”declaring “without a master” the apartments of those guilty of pro-Ukrainian opinions. Anna, a victim of this policy, saw the home of her mother-in-law, killed in April 2022, confiscated even though the inheritance had not been settled. “If you don’t answer twice, they declare your apartment “beskhoz””she explains.
On the ground, the human and material toll remains dramatic. A UN report indicates that 90% of buildings were damaged or destroyed. The NGO Human Rights Watch counted 10,300 dead, while the Ukrainian authorities estimate between 20,000 and 25,000 civilians killed in Mariupol.
A digital resistor
Vitaly Shtutman, originally from Moscow and now living in Haifa, Israel, started a volunteer project called “Map of the Destruction of Mariupol.” He states: “I decided to create a map so people could understand how this city too was being wiped out.” The map lists more than 2,500 destroyed buildings and identifies the location of approximately 600 deaths.
Lilya, a resident of Mariupol who fled her hometown in mid-March 2022, created her channel called Kadry Voiny (War Images) to share photos and videos of the conflict and collect evidence of Russian abuses. “Everyone wanted to see their houses”she says. His work has enabled many former residents to find some vestiges of their past, and to see their old house again, or what remains of it.
At the same time, pro-Russian networks are conducting an online witch hunt. Aleksandr warns: “They take screenshots (…), disclosing the person’s phone number and photos. They pass all this on to their ‘security services’ so they can track these people down in the city.” Many Ukrainians have suffered this surveillance and its consequences.
Despite the repainted facades and construction sites visible on the main avenues, the city is emptied of its substance. The interiors of buildings remain desperately empty, vital infrastructure is in ruins and there is a dire shortage of work. A superficial reconstruction which hides a ghost town, victim of human and memorial remodeling.
