Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete Destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of whom had been living in basements when soldiers took over their apartments to use as firing positions and battle stations.

Since its final capture, we have heard very little of the city – except as a possible target for a Ukrainian offensive. We have been left to wonder if people are still living amongst those scenes of destruction we became familiar with.

We don’t think about the problems of Reconstruction, at least until after a war finishes. Yet it is obviously important for the people living there and should be covered by war reporters.

Videos from Mariupol

I was strongly affected by what happened in Mariupol and was pleased to find a YouTbe channel established by a student in that city (see Videos from Mariupol). He has covered the destruction but, more interestingly, the reconstruction.

The magnitude of this reconstruction is amazing. This student presents video evidence illustrating how we in the West have been misinformed about the city.

His early videos were relatively short clips, but a new 30-minute video I include above shows more of the history of this reconstruction.

The student is factual in his comments. He doesn’t propagandise and while being very impressed with the reconstruction does not hesitate to mention the inevitable problems.

Several times he mentions that the current reconstruction is also solving pre-war problems. Apparently, Ukraine had basically neglected Mariupol (and other areas of Eastern Ukraine) and many of the facilities had dated to pre-independence, Soviet time. These are being updated.

I highly recommend Videos from Mariupol. It illustrates that often good things will happen after a war – or even, as in Mariopul’s case, before the war has finished.