Donetsk, Jun 21 — DAN. Less than a week ago, Mariupol launched a large construction project to build a neighborhood of 12 five-storey apartment houses with an outpatient hospital by the winter.
Hundreds of people are working on the construction site on the premises of the former Azovsky market. They pour concrete for foundations and simultaneously break ground for new ones, unload construction materials and lay service lines working around the clock.
The Russian Defense Ministry is project supervisor. It has a considerable experience in building infrastructure, for example prefabricated medical centers which mushroomed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tractors, trailer trucks, cranes, shouts of builders and the sound of working machinery create an atmosphere which would normally cause irritation and discomfort. But here, despite the background of frames of abandoned apartment buildings which had been damaged by Ukrainian gunmen fire, this activity makes one happy as it gives hope for the revival of the city and its return to normal life.
Earlier reports said that it is planned to build almost 100,000 square meters of living space (or more than 1,000 apartments) in the area. Half of the houses will be commissioned by October, and the rest together with the hospital a month later. Construction projects are implemented by companies from three Russian regions in other parts of Mariupol.
Mariupol is the largest city on the Sea of Azov coast, a key Donbass metallurgy center and seaport. It was liberated from Ukrainian troops on April 21, 2022. The city housing stock and infrastructure sustained significant damage. Damage assessment is underway. Water and electricity supply is being restored in the city. The seaport resumed operation in late May.*jk