A little over a year ago, the Russian army reduced Mariupol to rubble. Now the occupiers want to rebuild the city. Apparently there is no lack of people who want to buy a property there. ntv.de contacted five of them. What draws Russians to the bombed-out city by the sea?
Collapsed apartment blocks, destroyed schools, mass graves, dead people on the streets, in basements, in supermarkets, everywhere: in the first few months after the invasion, the Russian army almost wiped Mariupol off the face of the earth. According to the UN, 90 percent of all apartment buildings in the southern Ukrainian city were destroyed. More than a year after it was taken by the Russians, construction work is going on in the former city in the south of Ukraine – at least if you believe official propaganda and Russian Telegram channels. They show successful new construction projects and present them as a great achievement of the new occupying government. The fact that the photos often show the same objects – such as a new housing estate that Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin visited in March – doesn’t seem to bother anyone in the pro-Russian groups.
Ukrainian Telegram channels reveal a very different picture: a significant part of the city remains in ruins. Russian tourists to Crimea, who since the second attack on the Kerch Bridge in July have increasingly been coming to the peninsula via the occupied areas in southern Ukraine, often stop in Mariupol to see famous places such as the destroyed theater where a Russian shelling in March 2022, according to different accounts, up to 600 civilians died, or to visit the Azov steelworks and a few Photos in front of the ruins to shoot.
Despite the amount of destruction and the proximity to the front, some Russians decide not only to start their vacation trip in the bombed city, but also to move their place of residence to Mariupol. The location right by the sea and the low prices caused by the war are the two factors that speak in favor of investing in real estate in the occupied city from their point of view. Many of the buyers believe Mariupol will remain Russian forever and become a tourism hotspot in the near future.
Afraid of attacks? “Should have Washington, London and Warsaw”
On the popular Russian classifieds portal “Avito” are updated around 100 properties available for purchase in and around Mariupol. You can buy a 55 square meter two-room apartment for the equivalent of around 20,000 euros, but the average price for such a property is closer to around 30,000 euros. On the Russian Facebook counterpart VK there are numerous groups in which advertisements for the purchase, sale and rental of real estate in Mariupol are published.
People from all over Russia are looking for a property in Mariupol, most of them, according to search ads, want a house near the sea and are willing to do some renovation work. ntv.de wrote to several prospective buyers and asked them about their motivation for moving to the occupied city, which was strewn with corpses a year ago.
Karina Yakubova from Moscow describes Mariupol as her second home, her parents were born there, and as a child she spent the summer holidays with her grandmother, who lived in Mariupol. For Yakubova, the location by the sea also makes the city particularly attractive. Now the woman from Moscow is looking for an apartment or a house in what she sees as a Russian city. Yakubova considers the probability that Mariupol could be affected by hostilities again to be low. It’s “no more likely than in any other city,” she claims. “I’m not afraid. Washington, London and Warsaw are the ones who should be afraid,” the woman writes.
Lucrative investment?
Elena (not her real name) has already moved to Mariupol – from Donetsk, another Ukrainian city occupied since 2014. Her family is still renting, but is considering buying a property in the city on the Azov Sea, “if there’s a good option at a reasonable price on the table,” she explains. She had moved because of the ongoing shelling of Donetsk. She feels relatively safe in her new home, but thinks it’s possible that bombs will fall on Mariupol again at some point. “I’m very afraid of that,” says Elena. Why doesn’t she just move to a town further from the front lines? The woman does not want to answer this question. As well as which side they support in the war.
While some want to relocate to the city by the sea, others are interested in a lucrative investment. It is obviously assumed that real estate prices will rise in the near future. Just like Mark, a young man from a small town in the Bryansk region not far from the Ukrainian border. “I want to buy something as long as it’s cheap,” he explains to ntv.de. He does not answer any further questions.
Climate not as “diverse” as in Siberia
The first messages from Russians interested in real estate in Mariupol appeared on VK at the beginning of May last year – when fierce fighting was still raging in the city. Apparently, a VK user by the name of Pascha Fox also took part in these. On his site there are numerous photos in which he poses with weapons and in military uniform in front of the ruins of houses in Mariupol. Now the man who took part in the destruction of Mariupol is looking for a house or apartment “in any condition, cheaply”. Unfortunately, his profile settings do not allow ntv.de to write him a private message.
Pasha Fox (centre) apparently took part in the destruction of Mariupol. Now he wants to buy a cheap house here.
(Photo: https://vk.com/id159703785 )
Some of the people who posted their wanted ads months ago have since changed their minds. In March, Ekaterina, a young woman from the Siberian city of Leninsk-Kuznetsky, 4,000 kilometers from Mariupol, was still looking for a house with at least four rooms. The woman admits that she herself has never been to Mariupol. But her husband worked there “rebuilding the city after the ‘military special operation’,” she explains. “He really liked it there.”
Ultimately, however, the couple decided to stay in their homeland. Especially since the family just recently moved into a new house. Ekaterina also finds the climate in Siberia “more interesting” than in southern Ukraine: “In winter it’s minus 50 degrees, in summer it’s plus 50 degrees.” In Mariupol “there is no such variety”.
“1,000,000 percent” against the war
Fireman Vlad from Moscow also changed his mind. In October last year he was looking for a house, land or apartment not far from the sea. He found “the mild climate, the nice residents and how quiet the city is” particularly attractive, he explains to ntv.de. When asked about his wanted ad, the young man replies that he is no longer interested in moving to Mariupol. The city won’t be left alone any time soon, he says. His family “doesn’t want to be among those people who died there in vain,” writes Vlad.
According to his own statements, his political views have changed completely in the past few months – he is now “1,000,000 percent” against the war. He has thought a lot and now sees events in Ukraine differently than the Kremlin is trying to portray. Many things influenced his opinion: “an even greater division of the population in material terms, the passage of many ‘clever’ laws, the introduction of new taxes”. The man also criticized “brainwashing” by the government.
However, Vlad cannot answer the question of whether Mariupol is Ukrainian or Russian – since he is not on site and therefore “cannot make an objective judgement”. “The people who live there should decide for themselves, but unfortunately there are no honest elections,” said Vlad. In his opinion, whether Mariupol belongs to Ukraine or Russia is of secondary importance. The most important thing is that the war is over quickly and that peace prevails.