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Mariupol. Photo: Reuters
This article was originally published by Suspilne (Ukrainian public news organization) on May 18th, 2024. It was translated by u/Lysychka- and has been condensed for Reddit. Illustrations are from the original article, any photographs were added by me.
By Maria Semenchenko & Inha Levi
The defense of Mariupol lasted from February 24 to May 20, 2022—86 days, 82 of which were in complete encirclement. Thousands of Mariupol residents died—from hunger, exhaustion, lack of medicine, Russian shelling, and many under the ruins of houses, schools, and hospitals. The Russians directed air bombs at, among other targets, the maternity hospital and the Drama Theater, where hundreds of civilians were hiding. No wonder the residents of Mariupol say they experienced true hell.
For two years, Mariupol has been living under occupation. The Russians are trying to quickly make it Russian—both in appearance and atmosphere. On the sites of destroyed historic buildings, concrete “boxes” are being erected. Russian workers have been brought into hospitals and schools. Rebuilt housing is being sold to Russians. In the city, everyone lives with Russian passports and rubles. Meanwhile, people there still disappear or are detained and convicted on falsified charges. Those who want to leave the city must undergo filtration.
Finding anyone who remains in Mariupol and can tell about daily life is difficult—people are afraid to talk. As one of the people who agreed to be interviewed for this article "The city is plagued by fear." Even those who recently left the city are reluctant to talk about life in occupied Mariupol.
However, we managed to talk to a few Mariupol residents who are still in the city or have recently left it. They spoke about what life is like under occupation.
On the site of destroyed historic buildings in Mariupol, concrete boxes are being erected. Some houses in the city are being restored only externally—for appearances. Illustration by Inha Levi.
In the first year of the occupation, Kateryna (name changed for safety reasons) would leave her house only if she had to and only within close neighborhood: to the store, the medical clinic, the pharmacy. "When you go to the downtown, you immediately feel the oppression. Everything here is alien and lifeless," she says. "Life in Mariupol hasn't stopped, but it is a life in constant fear."
Kateryna stayed in Mariupol due to family circumstances. She agreed to talk with us because she says otherwise, no one will know what is happening in the city, leading to generalizations and distrust towards those who stayed. Moreover, Russian propaganda quickly fills the information vacuum. So, Kateryna chooses to speak: "Is it scary? Of course. But I am careful."
Inna (name changed for safety reasons) has left Mariupol. Her aunt remains in the city, but she cannot visit her—Inna's husband serves in the Ukrainian army, which means there is a high chance that she would be detained by Russian services upon entry. Inna describes the atmosphere in the city as "stifling and oppressive."
Her best friend remains in Mariupol, taking care of elderly relatives. "He doesn’t tell me everything, of course. There are things you can't say even over the phone in Mariupol," explains Inna. "Men often have their documents and mobile phones checked. If my friend talked to any Ukrainian journalists, the occupiers would quickly find out. Can you imagine what it’s like to live there now?"
Caption: \"Life in Mariupol hasn't stopped, but it is a life in constant fear.\" Illustration by Inha Levi.
"At the beginning of the occupation, few residents remained in Mariupol. There weren't even birds. Only stray dogs were dragging human limbs through the streets. People started drinking heavily, just to keep from going insane," recalls Anna Murlikina, editor of the Mariupol portal 0629.com.ua. She left the city in February 2024. "Then people from Russia started coming to Mariupol, and a flurry of construction activity began."
Last year, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said that during the blockade, the Russians destroyed 50% of the apartment buildings (934 buildings) and damaged over 38,000 private houses. They are now trying to rebuild the city—they have demolished 465 buildings, which had about 33,500 apartments, and have built about 4,600 new apartments. The Iron and Steel Works, where some of Mariupol's defenders held out, has partially resumed operations. "Azovstal" is being dismantled for scrap metal.
Valentyna (name changed for safety) did not leave the city. She is already retired. She had two apartments—one in a building with a sea view, and another in a historic building. The latter belonged to her daughter, who left in the early days of the full-scale invasion. Both buildings were damaged by Russian shelling. The building with a sea view was demolished by the occupiers. "There is no hope that it will be rebuilt and that I will be given an apartment there. Now, in Mariupol, apartments are being given to Russians who come to work, or they are being sold. You can also take out a mortgage on an apartment that you had, which was then destroyed and has now been rebuilt. It's nonsense!" exclaims the woman.
The building where Valentyna's other apartment was located has been restored. But to keep this property, her daughter would have to come to Mariupol, get a Russian passport, and confirm ownership. This must be done by 2026, as stated in the Russian order. During this time, the owner must pay utility bills; otherwise, the apartment will be declared ownerless.
It's not possible to issue a power of attorney to keep the apartment. Inna describes how she tried to issue a power of attorney for her aunt, who stayed in Mariupol: "Notaries in Ukraine made a general power of attorney. Then it went through European countries to Russia, was translated into Russian, and certified by a local notary. But in Mariupol, my aunt was told that only I, and only with a Russian passport, could confirm the ownership."
Some buildings in the city are being restored only on the outside—for appearances. Russian propaganda channels are filming stories about these buildings, where realtors show damaged apartments "but in nice buildings and in a good location."
"For Russians, Mariupol is a business project. No one thinks about the people or the city's history," says Inna.
Mariupol.
There are far fewer job openings in Mariupol not related to construction. Jobs, especially in the service sector, are mostly given to women. Men are hired reluctantly, as few in the city believe in exemption from mobilization. Kateryna says her friend and her husband opened a small shop but did not register it with Russian state services: "To avoid revealing data about her husband, because conscription summonses will start arriving."
Kateryna herself does not work—"to avoid communicating with Russians." She sold one of her apartments and lives off that money. She recalls how she and a male friend went to villages for groceries to sell at the market in Mariupol: "Then the 'DNR' people stopped us. They beat my friend severely. They took him to the commandant's office. They told him they would throw him in the basement and take the car. I asked, for what? And they said, for tax evasion. What taxes? There's no electricity, water, or food in the city!"
In two years, the city has restored electricity and water supply, but everything works intermittently. "The water is of poor quality—from the Staryi Krym reservoir. The communication lines are destroyed, so it is often turned off. The same goes for electricity. Back-up lines were drawn from neighboring settlements, but the capacity is insufficient, and accidents happen constantly," says Anna Murlikina.

Education: Empty Schools and Russian Narratives

According to Human Rights Watch, during the siege of the city, the Russians damaged 86 out of 89 educational institution buildings, including all 15 trade schools, colleges and universities. "The Russians are building kindergartens and schools, but most of them are half-empty because there aren't enough kids" says Kateryna. "There's also a problem with teachers; they are being brought in from Russia."
Schools in Mariupol have switched to the Russian language and curriculum. Russia is printing guidelines for them—instructions on "patriotic" upbringing and Russian historical narratives: the princes of Kyivan Rus were "Russian figures," the Russian Federation fights against "Ukrainian Nazis," and Ukraine is a "project of foreign intelligence services."
Russian youth organizations and museums are being created in schools to "correctly tell the history of Russia and the Donetsk region." Kateryna recalls May 9—on that day, she says, Mariupol schools held performances with children dressed as Soviet soldiers with St. George ribbons.
There are isolated cases where Mariupol children still study online in Ukrainian schools. But this is risky, according to our protagonists. One of them notes that staying in the occupation with children is a crime because "in a few years, they will already be Russian children."

"Mariupol residents are being drafted into the Russian army."

Mariupol. Photo: Reuters.
"In 2023 and early 2024, there was no mass mobilization in Mariupol like in the fall of 2022," says Anna Murlikina. "But there were individual cases. Men who received Russian passports had to register for military service. Some have already been sent to fight. I know they took students, working people aged 30 and older. But not on a large scale."
This spring, tents of the "Russian Army" appeared in the center of Mariupol. In them, Mariupol residents are encouraged to join the Russian armed forces. But, locals say, hardly anyone goes into these tents. Additionally, the Ukrainian Center for National Resistance reported that in the occupied territories of southern and eastern Ukraine, the Russians began forcing children to register for military service: "According to the 'military commissariat' plan, from March 2024, 17-year-old teenagers must register for Russian military service."
According to the Mariupol City Council, at least a thousand people are expected to be mobilized in the city shortly. Men born between 1994 and 2006 are subject to the draft.
Before the full-scale invasion, Mariupol had a population of 500,000. Now, according to various estimates, it has around 100,000 residents, including Russians and labor migrants from other countries. Some Mariupol residents have left. Additionally, during the first months of the siege, the occupiers forcibly deported tens of thousands of people from Mariupol to other occupied territories of Donetsk or to Russia. Ukrainian authorities managed to verify 33,000 of them.
According to city authorities, over 20,000 people have died in Mariupol. At least 147 children have been verified to have been killed. However, it is impossible to accurately count the number of dead. People are buried under destroyed buildings, many were buried in mass graves on the outskirts of the city, and others were buried simply in their yards.
Overall, there is no data on 150,000 Mariupol residents, says Anna Murlikina. A large number of city residents are still considered missing. "The department store in the city center, where people died in the basement, has not yet been dismantled by the Russians," says the journalist. "I wouldn't be surprised if the bodies of the dead are still lying there. People were hiding from shelling there. In 2022 and partly in 2023, it was unbearable to be near the department store because of the overpowering smell of corpses." Exhumation has not been carried out at the Drama Theater either, where on March 16, 2022, the Russians dropped two aerial bombs. According to various sources, between 300 and 600 people died there. Now the occupiers are building a new theater on the ruins of the old one.
Caption: \"In Mariupol, over 20,000 people have died. The exact number cannot be determined. People are buried under destroyed buildings, some were buried in mass graves on the outskirts of the city, and some were buried simply in their yards.\" Illustration by Inha Levi.
_______________________________
The 817th day of a ten-year invasion that has been going on for centuries.
One day closer to victory.

🇺🇦 HEROIAM SLAVA! 🇺🇦

TL:DR- spent $500 for the vet to not tell me why my cat is wheezing but instead tells me that there’s a high level of bacteria in her urine and to come and pick up the prescription for her. When I get there the vet does not help me and they charge me $90 so I ask for the prescription but instead of giving me the prescription they tell me to just order through chewy. Am I right in being upset at this treatment?

1. senior cat is wheezing and scratching.
   
2. Took her to the vet and spent $500 for an examination, a blood panel, and a flea treatment.
   
   1. The vet texts me that she has a high-level of bacteria in her urine, I don’t know how much because they have not actually shown me the results of the blood panel
3. I ask for the prescription so that I can get the antibiotic they text me to come in and pick up the medicine without disclosing the cost
   
4. Receptionist brings out the medicine and charges me $90. The vet does not come out to tell me how to administer the medication, or to give me any explanation for what’s going on with my cat.
   
5. I find out the medicine only costs $25 online so I return the medicine and request a prescription that I can get filled somewhere else,
   
6. they don’t give me a prescription
   
7. they have me order through chewy
   

Chewy is going to take several days to get this to me and they use FedEx who does not deliver to my apartment complex so I’m going to have to arrange to go to a FedEx center that is up to 20 minutes away from my house to pick up the medicine

1. Am I right in being upset?

I still don’t know why she’s wheezing
Conclusion-
I’m in tears right now because all I wanted was the prescription so that I could fill it at the pharmacy of my choice.
I understand that vets make money off of prescribing, but I would assume that the $380 I paid for the blood panel would be enough money for them to at the very least spend five minutes on the phone with me explaining what prescription she needs, how dire the situation is, and how much they’re going to charge me for the prescription being filled with them
The common argument I see for vets charging so much more for prescriptions is it offsets the cost of them diagnosing your cat and explaining to you how to treat it. I would assume the $380 for in house testing included a diagnostic fee and they have spent no time explaining to me what is wrong with my cat or what to look for to make sure she’s not suddenly getting worse in the meantime
But am I wrong? Should I have given them $90 for a $25 prescription so that I could have it for my cat right away?
She has no signs of a urinary tract infection, she isn’t crying out, she’s peeing the same amount she’s always peed, she’s drinking the same amount of water that she’s always been drinking, she doesn’t seem to have any problems
The problem is the wheezing which the vet basically just said I guess she wheezes now
I feel like I paid for top shelf veterinary care and the aftercare is not commiserate with what I paid for.