Ukraine Latest: Harrowing Twitter Thread Shows The Reality Of Mariupol Life Since Russia Invaded

A Ukrainian has photographed the city over the last few weeks in an attempt to capture alleged war crimes.
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A thread on Twitter appears to show a whole range of horrors which have unfolded in Ukraine since the invasion began, after a civilian took photos of the destruction.

The photos have been shared by a Twitter user who claims their father sent them from the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. It has been under siege for weeks, and is now almost completely under Russian control.

The scenes in the city have been harrowing. Troops appeared to attack a Mariupol theatre in March when the general public were using it as a bomb shelter. The city is also thought to have endured the greatest number of civilian deaths out of all of Ukraine at the hands of the Russian troops.

Now, Russian president Vladimir Putin has claimed victory in the city, even though the Ukrainian soldiers on the ground have contested this. There is one final stronghold still fighting back, in Azovstal steelworks.

Putin called his plans to attack this stronghold because he was concerned there would be too many Russian casualties, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Mariupol has been so damaged by Putin’s forces that the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared the whole city had been completely “destroyed” earlier this month, with “tens of thousands” dead.

The destruction in Mariupol adds to the growing accusations of war crimes said to have been committed in Ukraine by Russian troops.

Here is just a handful of the images being shared on Twitter.

A thread with photos of russian war crimes in besieged #Mariupol.
A father sent these photos to his son. Later, he was forcibly transferred to russia, but managed to escape to Estonia. https://t.co/ZYq7F76Fl1

— Alina Bondarenko (@alina_bondarnk) April 26, 2022

Some of the photos compared how the city looked like a century ago, a year ago, and then today.

Сто років тому - рік тому - тепер pic.twitter.com/5ySGs6RBs6

— Богдан (@kinvshchuk) April 26, 2022

Another highlighted the architectural monument known as the Continental Hotel.

Палац культури «молодіжний» до кцп мав 120 років життя. Пам‘ятка архітектури відома як готель «Континенталь» pic.twitter.com/GeJeqaw6AO

— Богдан (@kinvshchuk) April 26, 2022

Мій тато вивіз з Маріуполя з собою дві контузії. По цивільних відкривали вогонь коли ті намагались перебігати від будівлі до будівлі. Біля батька було двічі вибухало коли він шукав мобільну мережу щоб вийти зі мною на зв‘язок. pic.twitter.com/scGjiM2iQt

— Богдан (@kinvshchuk) April 26, 2022

“We will all come back and make the city even better than it was,” one caption promised. “We will preserve the historical heritage that remains, and we will forever remember who our real brothers are.”

Ми всі повернемось і зробимо ще краще місто ніж було. Збережемо історичний спадок що лишився, та назавжди запам‘ятаєм хто нам справжні брати. pic.twitter.com/n8ttudpyMz

— Богдан (@kinvshchuk) April 26, 2022

But other images show the extent of the damage.

This caption reads: “The central artery of the city in both directions. [Russia] burned everything down, destroyed it, and stole it.”

Центральна артерія міста в обидва боки. Кцп все випалили, зруйнували, розкрали. pic.twitter.com/YHFRWwD5wh

— Богдан (@kinvshchuk) April 26, 2022

More than 6,000 cases of potential war crimes have been opened by Ukraine’s prosecutor general.

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