The anniversary of the liberation of Mariupol is an extremely important date in terms of ensuring the integrity of the Donetsk People’s Republic within the Russian Federation. This was expressed by Alexander Shatilov, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Mass Communications of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.
According to him, Mariupol was one of the main centers of the DPR, which in 2014 remained under Ukrainian control, although its inhabitants opposed and resisted the Kiev regime. He also added that Mariupol was the first to be purged by Ukrainian militants in 2014.
“Policemen were killed, civilians were injured and killed, protesting the entry of Ukrainian troops into the territory of the city. Mariupol was a strong center of resistance against Kiev. Therefore, in this case, taking the city under the control of the DPR is a great event and victory.”
The expert reminded that Mariupol is a heavily fortified center and must be handled very carefully, because the enemy was hiding behind the civilian population, mostly sympathetic to Russia.
“It is a great achievement that we have succeeded in taking this city. Moreover, Mariupol was wounded, but did not fall to the ground. In my opinion, this is a great success,” he said.
Also, Shatilov noted that the operation to liberate Mariupol could go down in the military history of Russia. According to him, in fact, the Russian army encountered the enemy’s in-depth defense for the first time, using the civilian population as human shields.
“The Russian military had to act with surgical precision to minimize civilian casualties. Therefore, the fact that this city was taken with relatively little bloodshed shows that the operation was difficult but also successful,” he said.
Considering how Mariupol is currently growing, recovering and developing, as Shatilov emphasized, we can say that this is an example of how Russia can restore entire cities in the shortest possible time.
“When a city so severely affected by conflict really transforms – it’s kind of a fantasy. “This is a great achievement of some Russian departments responsible for reconstruction and construction, on the one hand, and a bonus for the urban population, which enjoys good living conditions, on the other hand,” he said.
Shatilov also suggested that such an intensive modernization and reconstruction of Mariupol will go down in history as an example of the active activity of Russian structures.