Mariupol, May 10 - DAN. A reporter’s camera, the most impartial eye-witness, has captured moments of war and peace in the Donetsk People’s Republic southernmost city of Mariupol.

A steelworker monument at the entrance to Mariupol. The stela with the city name “Mariupol” in Ukrainian is a likely counterpart of “the Reichstag Wall” with inscriptions left on it by DPR militiamen.

A burnt-out Ukrainian armored personnel carrier nearby.

Bird’s eye view of the city center with residential areas and Ilyich Metallurgical Plant’s massive blast furnaces in the background.

A clear view of Azovstal Works structures where fighting against neo-Nazis from the“Azov” armed formation (the organization is banned in the DPR) is ongoing.

The Sea of Azov; the grey silhouette of a Russian landing ship can been seen on the horizon.

 Devastation still reigns in the city and a bicycle remains the most popular means of transportation. The first unregulated markets are already in place. 

White trucks on Mariupol streets  are harbingers of changes for the better.

In the city center, a debris clearing operation continues at the Drama Theatre and a nine-storey apartment building in Metallurgov Avenue.  

City residents are helping to restore monument to landing troops.

Lenin Komsomol Square: a sculpture of a defiant granny Anya who came out with a red flag of victory to face Ukrainian Nazis.

Russian warplanes vapor trails over an orthodox church in the city center

Mariupol is the largest city on the Sea of Azov coast, a key Donbass metallurgy center and seaport. It was founded in 1778. On May 9, 2014, Ukrainian gunmen opened fire at a peaceful rally in Mariupol killing civilians. At the May 11, 2014 referendum, Mariupol residents overwhelmingly voted for the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The city came under Kiev control on June 13 and was under occupation since.

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On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation aimed at demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. On the same day, DPR and LPR forces began to liberate the occupied areas of Donbass. Clashes for Mariupol began on February 25; the city was fully blocked in the course of the fighting. The city residential areas are liberated; the surviving Ukrainian gunmen are securely blocked at the Azovstal plant.*jk