Largely destroyed by Russian forces, Mariupol is now portrayed by Moscow as a desirable city.
It is one year since the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was largely destroyed by Russian forces and captured.
Now, the occupation authorities seem intent on "Russifying" the city, changing Ukrainian-language road signs to Russian ones, introducing the Russian curriculum in schools and pushing the remaining residents to acquire Russian passports.It has also found that while new development is ongoing, extensive destruction remains - and it has heard from remaining pre-war residents who fear an uncertain future."I have found a property.
There's been a steady stream of glowing reports on state TV portraying the reconstruction of Mariupol as proceeding at a "record-breaking" pace and life returning to normal. This is especially true in parts of the city centre, where most of the buildings can still be seen missing their roofs. Yet many locals, including the ones we spoke to, report that the process is agonisingly slow, and there are many restrictions in practice, resulting in the new buildings standing half-empty.Positive reports about Mariupol feature heavily on Russia's Kremlin-controlled TV stations
A common reason for refusal - widely reported by Mariupol residents online - is if someone owns property other than their demolished flat, even a plot of land, a share in a flat or holiday cottage in the country. "Right now, we don't have the means to buy a home with a mortgage," Anna told Mariupol 24. "How could we do that?"
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