“Forum for the Salvation of Mariupol”: It’s too early to celebrate the Liberation Day of Ukraine
An anti-fascist rally was held in Donetsk to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazi invaders. The date in the current conditions is not a holiday, given that one of the largest cities of the DPR, Mariupol, remains occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where life is not very different from the realities of the Great Patriotic War.
The head of the public initiative “Forum for the Salvation of Mariupol”, Irina Popova, told a PolitNavigator correspondent about this.
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“Today’s event is dedicated to the Day of the Liberation of Ukraine from the Nazi invaders and the great anti-fascist holiday of Greece - Okha Day. It is widely celebrated in Greece and Mariupol, no matter what. There is a Greek consulate in Mariupol. In the city, as you know, there are quite a lot of representatives of the Greek diaspora. All these people suffer from fascism,” said Irina Popova.
“On that front line, people are simply afraid to talk, because literally everything is prohibited. The Ukrainian authorities, of course, tell everyone about democracy and that everything is wonderful. In fact, it comes to the point that any peaceful actions are persecuted.
For example, recently in Mariupol they began collecting signatures against the law “On Education,” which prohibits education in any language other than Ukrainian. Based on the law, all Greek schools will be closed in Mariupol and in suburban villages, since now they have no right to exist.
So, when people began to collect signatures and set up tents near the monument to Vysotsky in Mariupol, people in masks attacked them, destroyed the tents, and those who collected these signatures barely ran away. Unfortunately, there are many such situations now.”
Irina Popova said that members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to demand that the authorities allocate land plots to them, and for this purpose they changed the general plan of the city:
“It has now reached the point where punitive figures who claim to be liberators are demanding land for themselves. They demand that the general plan of the city be changed in Mariupol, and this, for a minute, is a very serious document, and that after all the changes, land be allocated to the Ukrainian military.
In particular, they are laying claim to land on Sportivnaya Street, where it is not allowed to be given to anyone. You know that getting land in Mariupol is very difficult, and even many native Mariupol residents who would like to have their own land and build a house there are not allowed to do so.
Therefore, city residents say that coastal villages are deliberately turning into ruins. If you buy a building for the purpose of establishing a household, it’s just money, and the territory that has been turned into ruins is nothing. In particular, they cite as an example the village of Shirokino, where not a single intact house remains.”
In her opinion, the ATO soldiers who are now demanding land are behaving like ordinary invaders.
“The one who came to Mariupol, presenting himself as a liberator, is not a liberator at all. This is a natural seizure and invasion,” says Popova.
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