Resettlement in occupied city
Ukraine: 300,000 Russians to move to Mariupol
08/21/2023 11:34 am
Mariupol has long been contested. After the Russian conquest, much of the Ukrainian port city lies in ruins. The Kremlin is launching a reconstruction program and now apparently wants to convince hundreds of thousands of Russians to move there.
Russia has issued a “development plan” for Mariupol, which has been occupied for over a year. This is reported by the National Resistance Center of Ukraine. According to this, around 300,000 people are to move to the Ukrainian port city through immigration from the Russian Federation and the plan is to be implemented by 2035.
The National Resistance Center cites sources in the Ukrainian underground who had access to occupation administration documents. In order to encourage the influx, the Kremlin has launched a program for cheap mortgages for citizens of the Russian Federation. Above all, Russian officials from the occupied territories should come to this end. At the same time, locals would be forcibly deported to the territory of the Russian Federation.
Photos of the Nevsky district published by the Russian news agency TASS recently showed a large new complex in Mariupol. In addition, a newly built stadium and tennis and basketball courts.
Tourist hotspot Mariupol?
However, a significant part of Mariupol remains in ruins. After the attacks on the Crimean bridge near Kerch, the Russian government advised travelers to make a detour via the occupied territories in Ukraine. Russian tourists to Crimea therefore often stop in Mariupol to visit famous sites such as the destroyed theater where, according to various sources, up to 600 civilians died in a Russian shelling in March 2022, or the Azov Steelworks to take a few photos to shoot the ruins.
By the time the Russian attack began, Mariupol had become a symbol of the Ukrainian resistance. Only after several months of siege and almost complete destruction could Russian troops take the port city on the Sea of Azov. In the meantime, even Putin had paid a “working visit” to the city.