War in Ukraine: Life returns to Mariupol after its occupation by the Russians

Citizens have start coming out again timidly in the streets of Mariupolthe city of this southern Ukraine, which on Russian forces pounded for weeks and which has now pass under their full control.

Yesterday Monday, city ​​dwellers were charging their electronic devices to power generators and they exchanged clothes and food at makeshift outdoor markets while at an empty bus station one giant screen, which has been installed there by Russians, showed its program Russian state television.

Liuba wears black sunglasses and a hat to protect her from the sun and says she is there to charge her cell phone. She has decided not to leave the city even though her apartment has been destroyed. “There is no electricity, no water – things are very difficult of course,” he explains.

A resident of the area, Nikolai, says that he is also there to charge his cell phone as there is no electricity at the train station, where he has catalyzed. None of them wants his last name mentioned.

Some residents collect essential products in boxes bearing the characteristic pro-Russian symbol “Z”.

Others have set up stalls to sell or exchange products, such as vegetables and shoes.

A woman, who asked not to be named, said that few products were left after the looting that took place in the city.

Russia took full control of Mariupol earlier in the month when more than 2,400 Ukrainian fighters surrendered, resisting having taken refuge inside the besieged Azovstal steel plant.

The occupation of Mariupol by Moscow helped it secure full control of the Sea of ​​Azov and create a land bridge connecting mainland Russia with Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described Mariupol as “completely devastated”, but Moscow has pledged to rebuild it. The two sides accused each other of targeting residential areas and that they are responsible for the completely destroyed housing estates that make up most of the city today.

It is not known how many people have remained there.

Source: ΑΠΕ ΜΠΕ

Source: News Beast

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