The Russian army initially destroyed the city with missiles and bombs. After the complete occupation of Mariupol, the invaders began to carry out "cleansing" among people, buildings and culture. In addition to the destruction of Ukrainian books in libraries, the invaders began to destroy modern culture – murals on the buildings that survived during the Russian invasion.
Recently, it became known that the occupation authorities destroyed the last mural created before the full-scale war. It was crucial for the history of Ukraine and Ukrainian women in particular. The name of the picture on the building is Toward Happiness. It shows a woman with an empty birdcage. A bird that had to sit "behind bars" flew into the sky. This mural told the story of women who were able to escape from violence and start a new life.
"Barbarians of the XXI century continue to destroy our city with their dirty hands. Russia has no rights, no respect, no manifestation of modern art," wrote Petro Andryushchenko, adviser to the mayor of Mariupol in Ukraine.
Russians continue to erase Ukrainian culture from the occupied Ukrainian lands. So what is it: liberation or genocide?
