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"Total destruction of all living things": the network showed what the occupiers did to Maryinka in Donetsk region. Video
Russia seized the town of Maryinka, a few kilometers from Donetsk, in late December 2023. Before that, the occupiers had turned the settlement into piles of construction waste, so the "liberators" hung their tricolor on the lifeless ruins.
More than a year later, the "liberated" Maryinka still remains a poignant testament to what the "Russian world" brings with it. A video from the destroyed town was published by journalist Denys Kazanskyi.
"The former town of Maryinka, Donetsk region. Only a mentally ill person can call this "liberation" and "help to Donbass residents." In reality, this is just genocide and total destruction of all life. The Russian army is turning Donbass into a deserted dump of construction waste," he wrote.
The footage published by Kazanskyi shows ruins with not a single intact building or tree left standing.
The "liberation" of Maryinka was reported to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin by the then-Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu on December 25, 2023. Prior to that, the Russian Federation had claimed the complete capture of this settlement three times.
"In the course of active offensive actions, the assault units of the "Pivdenne" group have completely liberated the village of Maryinka, five kilometers southwest of Donetsk. Over the past 9 years, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have created the most powerful fortified area, which is also connected by underground passages. In fact, almost every street has its own well-fortified buildings that are well protected from all air and artillery strikes. Long-term firing points, a complex system of underground communications. Thanks to the decisive actions of our soldiers, the fortified area was broken," Shoigu said at the time.
The war criminal did not mention the fact that the "liberators" destroyed the city and the lives of 9,000 people who lived there before the outbreak of full-scale war. Nor did he mention that Russia has been trying unsuccessfully to capture Maryinka, which covers 230 hectares, since 2014, and was able to do so only after the city was left as a dot on the map.
Instead, it was mentioned by the then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi. On December 26, 2023, answering journalists' questions about Shoigu's statement about the capture of Maryinka, he said that there was no such town anymore.
"Our official position is that we are defending every piece of our land, every single piece, but if enemy shells start digging up this place with stones, with the earth, and with our fighters, then the lives of our fighters are more important to us. Maryinka, which has been held for almost two years, has been destroyed street by street and house by house by the enemy. As of today (December 26, 2023 – Ed.), our troops are still in the northern part of the city and have prepared a defensive line near the settlement, but I can say that this settlement no longer exists," he said at the time.
Earlier, the network showed what the occupied Krasnohorivka in Donetsk region looks like. This settlement is located next to Maryinka, and before the war it was home to about 10,000 people, but after the arrival of the "liberators" there was nowhere else to live.
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