Russian television shows “fairy tales for fools”. Real life in Mariupol, three years after Russia's occupation
Three years after the conquest by Russia, Mariupol remains a destroyed city. The propaganda on the television presents a “bright” city, but the inhabitants still live among the ruins, without drinking water and under permanent terror.
What the real life looks like in Mariupol, three years after the Russian photo occupation: EPA EFE
Three years after the conquest of the city of Mariupol by the Russian army, life in the city remains difficult. Although pro-Russian influences post videos that show a repaired city and with life returned to normal, reality is quite different: Mariupol is still devastated, inhabitants live among ruins, and access to drinking water and other basic resources is limited.
“What is shown on Russian television are fairy tales for fools. Most of the Mariupol still lies in ruin“Says a resident.
The main boulevards have been cosmetized “Where do I bring the cameras to film“, But, a few tens of meters, “”It's just rubble and desert. Many people still live in half -destroyed apartments with walls only in footE, ”he adds, according to the BBC.
After the siege of the spring of 2022, the UN estimated that 90 % of the residential buildings were damaged or destroyed, and thousands of civilians died.
The city without water and no medication
The drinking water network is on the point of collapse. “The water flows for a day or two, then it does not come for three days … It is so yellow that after boiling it, you are afraid to drink it,” says James, another inhabitant. The Siverski Donet -Donbas channel, explains the Deputy Mayor in Exil Serchii Orlov, is badly damaged: “For the current population, the tank would have arrived a year and a half. The occupation lasts more; there is no drinking water at all.”
Current feathers are common, foods are constantly expensive, and “Dthe yobs barely find their insulin and is extremely expensive“James continues.
Propaganda from schools and the parades of “liberation”
In the classes re -established by the occupation administration, the children receive textbooks in which the Donetk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zapojjea, Herson, Odessa, Crimea and “even Dnipropetrovsk” regions are already listed as a Russian territory, says the student andri Kozhushyna.
Special lessons, called “Conversations about important things”, Glorifies the invasion of 2022 Law “Liberation from the Nazi regime“.”Teachers who refuse are intimidated or fired. It is as if the minds of our children reprogram them ”says John, staying in the city.
May 9, the central market was decorated in red -white and hosted military parades with children “In uniform“, Soviet habits that Ukraine had gradually abandoned before employment.
Invisible resistance
At night, the walls of the city are loaded with blue and yellow: “The messages are meant to provide moral support and show that the resistance is alive ”says James, part of a clandestine network that documents the movements of Russian troops, sabotages the railway and sends photos to Ukrainian services.
The activity is extremely risky. Andrii ran after a soldier showed him the picture at a cash register: “May a neighbor poured me”.
For the remaining, fear is daily: “Every day you delete your messages from your phone; At the control points it can be checked. You are afraid and call your friends from Ukraine“Adds James.
“We do not want peace at any price”
Discussions about a territorial compromise with Russia revolt those who endanger their lives. “To give up the territories for a «understanding» It would be a betrayal … We don't want to «peace at any price». We want to be released ”, John says firmly.
