Collage by Olena Zelenina.
Mariupol is the only major Ukrainian city that Russia managed to capture and then hold during the three years of the bloody war. At the cost of destroyed infrastructure, massive outflow of residents (according to various estimates, from 280,000 to 430,000), and their deaths (according to Ukrainian estimates, at least 20,000).
The example of Mariupol is an example of what could have happened to Kharkiv, Odesa, and Zaporizhzhia if the invasion had gone completely according to Putin's plan.
Now, Russia is trying hard to reinforce in the minds of local residents and others that it has always been here.
Historian Kostyantyn Pakhaliuk spoke about how a front of historical propaganda was launched in the city destroyed by the invaders. And your columnist supplemented his story with her memories and notes.
Read more in the Ukrainian edition...
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