Life in Ukraine’s post-siege Mariupol: barter markets and Russian TV
- Russia seized full control of Mariupol this month when more than 2,400 Ukrainian fighters surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steelworks
- On Monday, local residents charged electric devices from generators and exchanged food and clothes at impromptu street markets
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Russian propaganda trucks screen state news in war-torn city of Mariupol
People are slowly starting to return to the streets of the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, pummelled by weeks of shelling from Russian forces and now fully under Russian control.
On Monday, local residents charged electric devices from generators and exchanged food and clothes at impromptu street markets, while at an empty bus station Russian state television blared out from a giant screen brought in by officials.
Lyuba, wearing sunglasses and a hat to protect her from the sun, said she was charging her phone. She had decided not to leave the city, although her flat had been damaged.
“There’s no electricity, no water – things are really tough, of course,” she said.
A man called Nikolai said he had also come to charge his phone, as there was no electricity available at the railway station where he now lives. Neither gave family names.
Some residents could be seen collecting essential products in boxes emblazoned with the pro-Russian “Z” symbol.
