Russians are buying up housing in temporarily occupied Mariupol

Russians continue to buy property in temporarily occupied Mariupol.

The BBC Ukraine reported this.

In a comment to the publication, Vladimir from Murmansk said that he had sold his apartment in his hometown and planned to move his family to Mariupol.

He found the apartment on VKontakte and decided to buy it because of low property prices.

"The main thing is that it is near the sea," commented Vladimir.

The journalists also talked to Ukrainians from Mariupol who lost their homes because of the war. 

They said that despite the promises of the Russian authorities to relocate all those who lost their homes to new buildings, it is impossible to get new housing.

People are put on a waiting list that lasts for months. Housing is mostly distributed "very sparingly and selectively" to people with "openly pro-Russian views."

"People are put on a waiting list and don't know where they will get an apartment," said Svitlana, whose grandmother remained in the occupied city.

She lost her apartment when the Russian authorities demolished her house. The Mariupol resident was supposed to receive a new apartment in March. However, she is still waiting.

The BBC has also published satellite images that do indeed show the numerous new multi-storey residential complexes but also the extent of the city's destruction.

The images show an entire neighbourhood of about 315,000 square metres in the eastern part of Mariupol, which has been heavily damaged by the fighting. In this area, Russians demolished houses but did not build new ones.