Things are not really improving in Mariupol, and live is not becoming any easier or better since the Russians and their puppets, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), assumed power. I’d written previously about how their attempts to restore electricity and water have been, at best, terrible, and no real progress has been made on that front. The only water for people to use has to be trucked in and distributed. People have to sign up to get water, wait about 2 days for their place in line to come up, and then actually wait in line to get their water.
In the mean time, the DPR is trying to put a pretty face on the rubble by watering the plants in the city so that they can get photos of life returning to normal (or maybe how things are “thriving” now that the Russians are in charge?). And to note, I know this is non-potable, “technical” water that’s being used; it just seems like wrong message when people are still thirsty.
Because of the failures to restore water (and the very real risk of a cholera outbreak because of the unsanitary conditions), some “hygienic procedure” tents have been set up in the center of town – “It’s just horrifying and bullying!” tents for “hygienic procedures” were set up in Mariupol due to lack of water, – VIDEO – 0629.com.ua. These are places where people can wash up (between 11 am and 4 pm).
Water is only part of the story, there is also a lack of food and supplies in the city. When I was young, I remember the stories about bread lines and such in the Soviet Union (which always seemed to be accompanied by black and white photos from the 40’s and 50’s). Well, the lines are back:
I haven’t read about any process for getting this assistance, but I can’t imagine it would be any easier than getting water. And on this particular day, the temperatures were in the upper 80s, so not a great time to just be standing out (especially if you don’t have water to stay hydrated).
Undoubtedly, some of the people in the photo left without assistance, because what’s being sent is likely not sufficient to the needs of the people still in the city – Only 0.25% of Mariupol residents receive Russian “humanitarian aid” (ukrinform.net).
In addition to the lack of water, the other big contributor to the fear of a cholera outbreak is the garbage. There’s a lot of it, and it’s not being addressed.
The WHO is warning about the impending outbreak, but so far Ukraine has stated that there are no cases of cholera to report — though they exclude Mariupol from that statement. The British have said that there have already been some cases in Mariupol – In May, the first cases of cholera were recorded in Mariupol, – British intelligence – 0629.com.ua – and apparently the Russians are concerned about a rash of cases too, and they are taking precautions in places that aren’t Mariupol – Russia bracing for “cholera epidemic” in regions bordering Ukraine – intel (ukrinform.net).
Because of the scope of recovery of the bodies of those killed by their aggression, the Russians and DPR have decided that they just aren’t going to bother anymore. There had been some stories and photos initially of workers, including citizens of Mariupol, going through the rubble of destroyed building to recover the dead. (The people of Mariupol were doing this work because it was one of the few ways to get food.) But that was slow going because there are a lot of destroyed buildings and a lot of bodies. So now there are no recovery efforts; they are just scooping up the rubble and carting it off – In Mariupol, the occupiers carry construction debris along with the remains of bodies to closed landfills – PHOTOS – 0629.com.ua.
While I’m sure part of the argument for doing this is to more quickly address the decomposition and stench that has been enveloping the city, it also give cover to mask the true numbers of the dead and to prevent meaningful closure for a lot of people. And to make investigating war crimes more difficult.
As if we need punctuation to that, here’s a video from last week of one of the mass graves outside of Mariupol. Before the task became too great and/or instructions to conceal the extent of the issue came down, there was some horrifying effort to at least bury some of the bodies. Not that they were necessarily identified. I remember seeing a couple of those Maxar satellite photos of newly dug mass graves (Apparent mass graves near Mariupol expanding in size, satellite photos show – National | Globalnews.ca), but it’s really different when you see a video of someone driving the length and width of it.
Lastly, I’d noted before about the Russians changing (traffic) signs from Ukrainian spellings to Russian spellings. It’s all part of their genocidal erasure of all things Ukrainian. It’s not just road signs – Mariupol was renamed MarNupol and repainted into Russian tricolor , – PHOTOFACT – 0629.com.ua
They had to work to change the Ukrainian “i” into a Russian “и,” but that was much better propaganda for state media broadcasts than, say, giving the people of Mariupol running water. I’m sure the people of Mariupol will take the time to do it right when the city is reclaimed and rebuilt.