Russian forces seized the Ukrainian port city Mariupol a year ago. Its exiled mayor has a plan to rebuild it.
"We are working hard to prepare the necessary plans and recovery strategies so that when the city is liberated, we are fully prepared and do not waste time," the mayor, who now lives elsewhere in Ukraine, told CNBC. "This is the moment when we have to prepare for our return to Mariupol as efficiently as possible," he added. CNBC spoke to Boychenko in April and May for this story.
Russian service members work on demining the territory of Azovstal steel plant during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 22, 2022.Mariupol was once home to nearly half a million people. Now its population has been reduced to about 100,000, though Boychenko adds that the current figure is difficult to assess due to a lack of reporting in the city.
The attack on the theater came one week after Russian bombs tore through a children's and maternity hospital in Mariupol. The bombing and images of bloodied pregnant women evacuated out of the rubble sparked an international outcry. Russia has previously said that its forces in Ukraine do not target civilians or civilian infrastructure and that the attacks on the theater and maternity hospital were staged.An aerial view taken on April 12, 2022, shows the city of Mariupol, during Russia's military invasion launched on Ukraine.Despite early Russian advances in the war, Ukraine seized back large swaths of territory, repelling opposition forces in many places with the aid of Western money and weaponry.
"Together with our international partners and the World Bank we will assess the extent of the destruction and record the damage caused to Mariupol," he said, adding that the current price tag is only an estimation. A local resident reacts while speaking outside a block of flats heavily damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 18, 2022."Mariupol produced about 12 million tons of steel per year, which is 4.5% of Ukraine's gross domestic product and 7% of the country's foreign exchange earnings," he said, adding that the Mariupol's steel industry created approximately 50,000 jobs.
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