In March 2022, a few days after the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, the international community had its sights set on Mariupol. The port city, located on the Azorov Sea in southeastern Ukraine, is surrounded by Moscow forces and a deadly siege is underway.
Shortly after, the bombing of a maternity hospital shocked the international community, as well as, at the end of 2022, of a theater that housed hundreds of civilians. The city, almost destroyed, is still occupied to this day by Russia.
From his city of exile, in Dnipro, some 300 kilometers away, the mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boichenko, begins to prepare for the reconstruction of his city. According to our colleagues guardianthe mayor is the head of “Mariupol Reborn”, a reconstruction project.
monument, playground
Among the sites considered, a memorial, inspired by that of September 11, on the site of the bombed theater, or a children’s playground near the ashes of the Azovstal factory, where Ukrainian soldiers and civilians remained hidden for more than two months.
For a few weeks, Mariupol has been the subject of a rehabilitation project financed by the Russian Defense Ministry. Vladimir Putin wants to make this city the showcase for his conquest of the Donbass, through the construction of new buildings. For Vadym Boichenko, only 1% of what Moscow destroyed would have been rebuilt.
With “Mariupol Reborn”, financed in particular by organizations such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development or people like Rinat Akhmetov, one of the richest business leaders in Ukraine, the mayor plans to rebuild a new Mariupol, smaller than the previous one. . , which will initially be able to accommodate between 200 and 250,000 people. Eventually, the councilman anticipates that his city will host some 350,000 inhabitants.
$14.5 billion over 15 years
Plans for this project will be announced at a conference on June 28-29 in Lviv, in the west of the country. The mayor’s project would require $14.5 billion over 15 years. Vadym Boichenko, who left the city from him on February 26, two days after the start of the Russian offensive, hopes to return there at the end of the year.
“Ukrainian armed forces are already close to the city of Volnovakha,” he told our colleagues, amid a counteroffensive by kyiv troops. “Mariupol is 60 kilometers away. It is an important transportation hub. During World War II, the Soviets also liberated Mariupol through Volnovakha. We believe in the Ukrainian armed forces. And we are sure that we will return to Mariupol this year “. he added he.
The mayor also wants to remove all traces of the city’s Soviet past. “We can no longer mention Potemkin, Russia and Mariupol. We asked the Ukrainian Institute of Memory when Mariupol was founded and they gave us the date: 1594.”
Source: BFM TV
