Russian Defense Minister Shoigu Visits Occupied Mariupol

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has published a video that allegedly shows Sergei Shoigu, the Defense Minister, in occupied Mariupol. The visit was described as part of a “working trip to the zone of a special military operation.”

Although Shoigu showed up in Mariupol on March 3, his visit was reported in the Russian media only today, March 6.

In the video, Shoigu was filmed aboard a helicopter, on the city’s streets, and in a medical center. He was accompanied by people in the Ministry of Emergency Situations, some in uniform and armed.

According to the ministry, Shoigu came to check the construction work on a military complex aimed at “restoring the infrastructure of the Donbas.”

The press release says that the minister visited a multifunctional medical center, a Ministry of Emergency Situations rescue center, and a new neighborhood.

“Sergei Shoigu also heard a report on constructing the largest water pipeline connecting the Rostov region and the Donetsk People’s Republic. The water pipeline from the Don River to the Donets - Donbas canal will provide water to many settlements in the region,” according to the statement.

Russian troops tried to capture Mariupol since the very outset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They managed to take control of the city by mid-May, after the last Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol hunkered down in the massive Azovstal steel plant surrendered. At the end of September, Russia annexed the city along with the entire region of Dontesk, even though do not control vast parts of it.

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