Rebuilding and Retaliation: The Ongoing Battle for Mariupol.

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs marked the anniversary of its capture of Mariupol with propaganda displaying newly constructed buildings, claiming the city is a "bustling, rapidly developing city." However, residents say the city has descended into a grim recollection of Soviet Union rule, with eye-popping prices at barren stores, Russian soldiers on the streets, and children undergoing "brainwashing" at school. Critics slammed the new builds as "Potemkin villages" and noted that many of the city's buildings were bombed by Russia during its invasion.