Moscow reveals squalid Mariupol flats as publicity video backfires

RUSSIAN propagandists sent to promote newly-built apartment blocks in occupied Mariupol inadvertently revealed the buildings are marred by problems, with ceilings bulging with floodwater from broken toilets.

Eight months after the once-thriving port city in south-eastern Ukraine fell under Moscow’s control last May, its remaining residents have complained of flooded apartments and shoddy workmanship.

Workers brought in from Russia have been pulling down at least one warscarred building a day in the hope of eradicating any remaining Ukrainian sentiment in Mariupol.

Streets now have Soviet-era names and road signs have been painted in the red, white and blue of the Russian flag.

Around 90 per cent of Mariupol was destroyed during Moscow’s monthslong siege, with most of the buildings beyond repair.

Some 50,000 homes will need to be demolished and rebuilt as part of the effort, according to estimates.

Kremlin allies had previously said Mariupol would be rebuilt in the model of Grozny, Chechnya’s capital, which was once declared the world’s most destroyed city after it was pummelled by Kremlin forces during the Chechen war. It was reconstructed with glass skyscrapers and public gardens.

But matters are not as rosy in the Ukrainian port city, according to some of Mariupol’s last remaining residents, who have been given new homes in the Nevsky district.

One unnamed man filmed as part of a Russian propaganda video showed his sagging ceiling after an upstairs neighbour suffered a leak.

“I’ll open to you a secret,” he said. “On the fourth floor, in flat 28, they installed a burst toilet tank. Water built up in the flat 28 until it found a way through to floors two and three.

“On floors two and three, the dropped ceiling is at the floor level.”

He said the Russians, who had sent in thousands of doctors, workmen and administrators to replace the Ukrainians who had died or left, had not been able to find anyone to do the repairs.

Another lady bemoaned the “tiny sink” fitted in her new bathroom, as well as poor-quality tiling.

In spite of the residents’ feedback, the video presenter said the area was “nice and clean” and the homes were “cute”.

‘They installed a burst water tank. On floors two and three, the dropped ceiling is at floor level’