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The original was posted on /r/ukrainewarvideoreport by /u/Jackal8570 on 2025-06-30 00:41:29+00:00.

Never forget the war crimes of the occupiers, and the thousands of civilians killed by russia.

“What they’re showing on Russian TV are fairy tales for fools. Most of Mariupol still lies in ruins,” says John, a Ukrainian living in Russian-occupied Mariupol. We’ve changed his name as he fears reprisal from Russian authorities.

“They are repairing the facades of the buildings on the main streets, where they bring cameras to shoot. But around the corner, there is rubble and emptiness. Many people still live in half-destroyed apartments with their walls barely standing,” he says.

It’s been just over three years since Mariupol was taken by Russian forces after a brutal siege and indiscriminate bombardment – a key moment in the early months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Thousands were killed, and the UN estimated 90% of residential buildings were damaged or destroyed.

In recent months, videos and reels from several pro-Russia influencers have been painting a picture of a glossy city where damaged structures have been repaired and where life has gone back to normal.

But the BBC has spoken to more than half a dozen people - some still living in Mariupol, others who escaped after spending time under occupation - to piece together a real picture of what life is like in the city.

“There are a lot of lies floating around,” says 66-year-old Olha Onyshko who escaped from Mariupol late last year and now lives in Ukraine’s Ternopil.

“We had a beautiful city but now it’s diseased. I wouldn’t say they [Russian authorities] have repaired a lot of things. There’s a central square – only the buildings there have been reconstructed. And there are also empty spaces where buildings stood. They cleared the debris, but they didn’t even separate out the dead bodies, they were just loaded on to trucks with the rubble and carried out of the city,” she adds.