MARIUPOL — More than three years after Russian forces captured Mariupol, Ukrainian residents still living in the occupied city describe a grim reality that contrasts sharply with the image broadcast by Russian media.
Locals say reconstruction is superficial and life remains dangerous and difficult. Russia seized the southeastern city in 2022 after weeks of shelling that destroyed most of its infrastructure and killed thousands. The United Nations estimated that 90% of homes were damaged or flattened during the assault.
John, a Ukrainian resident who requested anonymity for safety, said the Russian portrayal of recovery is fiction. “What they’re showing on Russian TV are fairy tales for fools. Most of Mariupol still lies in ruins,” he said. “They fix building fronts for cameras, but behind them is rubble. People live in crumbling apartments with barely standing walls.”
Russia claims to be rebuilding Mariupol. Its state-controlled media shows newly paved streets and painted facades. But eyewitnesses interviewed by BBC reporters paint a very different picture.
Olha Onyshko, who fled to Ternopil last year, said, “We had a beautiful city, but now it’s diseased. They rebuilt a few buildings around the central square. But where homes once stood, there are now empty plots. The rubble was removed, but bodies weren’t separated. Everything human remains included was loaded into trucks and taken away.”
Water Crisis and Shortages
Access to clean water is unreliable and unsafe. James, a resident still in the city, described water supplies as inconsistent and undrinkable. “Water comes for a day or two, then disappears for three days. We store buckets at home. The water is yellow. Even after boiling, it’s scary to drink.”
Locals have likened it to the color of cola.
Serhii Orlov, the city’s deputy mayor in exile, said the Siverskyi Donets–Donbas Canal, the primary water source, was destroyed during the siege. “Only one reservoir remained. That could support the city for about 18 months. The occupation has gone on longer. So there’s no clean drinking water now. What people use doesn’t meet basic health standards,” he explained.
Electricity is unreliable, food prices have soared, and medicine is scarce. “Insulin is hard to get and overpriced. People with chronic illnesses suffer the most,” said James.
The occupying administration has not publicly responded to questions about the water shortage or access to medical supplies.
Forced indoctrination in schools
Education in Mariupol has changed under occupation. Textbooks now present Ukrainian regions including Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Crimea as Russian territory.
Andrii Kozhushyna, who studied in the city before escaping to Dnipro, said children are being misled. “They teach propaganda. Classes called ‘Conversations about Important Things’ claim Russia saved the Russian-speaking population from Nazis in 2022,” he said.
John added, “Teachers who refuse are threatened or fired. They’re rewriting our children’s minds.”
Photos from Victory Day in May showed children dressed in military uniforms, waving Russian flags. Soviet-era traditions banned in Ukraine have returned to public schools and parades in the city center.
Silent resistance in the shadows
Despite the risk, some Ukrainians continue resisting in secret. At night, they spray-paint Ukrainian symbols and paste messages like “Liberate Mariupol” on city walls.
James and John belong to underground networks that collect information for the Ukrainian military. “I track Russian troop movement, supply routes, and equipment repairs,” James said. “I hide photos until I can send them through secure channels.”
Resistance members have also set fire to railway signal boxes twice to disrupt military transport. Andrii, a former member, fled the city after spotting Russian soldiers showing his photo in a local shop.
“I knew they were hunting me. I escaped through Russia and Belarus before making it back to Ukraine,” he said.
Those still in Mariupol live under constant threat. “Every day I delete messages from my phone in case it’s checked. A neighbor was arrested just for being accused of helping the Ukrainian military,” said James. “It’s like living in a thriller fear, tension, and no trust.”
A city under pressure and a population refusing to surrender
Russia has replaced Ukrainian signs and flags, introduced its own currency, and seized homes abandoned by displaced citizens. Human rights reports confirm thousands of Ukrainian-owned properties have been confiscated. New tenants must swear loyalty to Russia and accept its passports.
Despite international calls for peace talks, residents say surrendering territory is not an option.
“Giving away land for a deal with Russia is betrayal,” said John. “We risk our lives daily not so someone in a suit can sign us away. We don’t want peace at any cost. We want liberation.”
