False Facade: Russian Media Claims Mariupol Recovery Amid Devastation
Russian propaganda is using the destruction of the Mariupol Drama Theatre to create a false image of “reconstruction and prosperity” in the occupied city.
The Gaze reports on it, referring to the Centre for Countering Disinformation.
Russian media are spreading information about allegedly rebuilt houses, parks, and sports facilities in Mariupol, with particular attention to the Drama Theatre, which was destroyed by Russian airstrikes in 2022.
It is worth recalling that on March 16, 2022, Russian aviation dropped two 500-kilogram bombs on the theatre building. Large inscriptions reading “CHILDREN” were visible at the front and back of the building, which served as a shelter for civilians, and were clearly seen in satellite images. According to eyewitness accounts, about a thousand people were inside the theatre.
As a result of this deliberate strike, around 600 people were killed, according to journalistic investigations. The exact number of victims of this Russian military crime remains unknown, as the occupiers removed and buried the bodies in a mass grave.
Currently, propaganda materials about Mariupol’s reconstruction are actively promoted with the help of certain foreign journalists who cooperate with the Russian authorities in the occupied territories.
The aim of the campaign is to create the illusion for Western audiences that Ukrainian territories under Russian control are supposedly developing actively. Propaganda attempts to present the Mariupol Theatre and some residential buildings as a “showcase of the Russian world,” although the real situation is significantly different.
“In reality, most of the cities in Donbas captured by Russia remain in ruins and are almost depopulated, and the residents who remain there have no access to basic services and live under the constant terror of the occupiers,” the Centre’s statement reads.
Earlier, Russian occupation authorities in Mariupol have installed a 14-meter New Year tree outside the city’s Drama Theater. The move comes ahead of the theater’s planned reopening after three years of reconstruction and has been criticized as an attempt to overshadow the memory of the victims.
According to the Mariupol City Council in exile, the ongoing restoration should be seen as an effort to turn a site of mass civilian deaths into a curated display of “Russian culture” under occupation.
As The Gaze reported earlier, Russia is massively evicting former residents from apartments in occupied territories, transferring housing to ethnic Russians, while construction companies linked to the Kremlin are profiting from the reconstruction of houses demolished as a result of the invasion.
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