At the entrance to the town, the stele is still visible. Letters, in stone or concrete, are lined up next to each other and give the visitor the name of the place they are entering: Mariupol. In reality, the monument has been modified. Previously, it read “Маріуполь”, in Ukrainian. The structure was painted blue and yellow, the colors of the national flag.
Today, it reads “Мариуполь”, in Russian, on letters painted in white, blue and red, the colors of the Russian Federation. Cars and buses circulate on the avenues and pedestrians pass each other on the sidewalks. The shops have lit up their signs and the restaurants are displaying their opening hours. Under the sun, life is bustling as in any town. However, just four years ago, the place was an open-air cemetery.
Large-scale urban warfare
On February 24, 2022, Moscow launched a vast military operation to invade Ukraine. That same day began the Battle of Mariupol, during which Russian soldiers, supported by troops of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), and Ukrainian armed forces, supported by members of the National Guard, clashed.
The city, located in the south-east of Ukraine, in the Donbass region, quickly became the object of all the world’s media attention. The fierce fighting which took place there for several weeks kept all observers in suspense and marked the return of large-scale urban warfare to the European continent. Unheard of since the Yugoslav wars
