Russians Start Issuing Compulsory Passports in Mariupol

Russians have started issuing Russian passports to the residents of occupied Mariupol, reported Petro Andryushchenko, the adviser to the mayor of the city.

According to his statement, from Jan. 1 it has become mandatory for all teachers, doctors, police officers, and government officials to obtain Russian documents.

"From March 1, it will be impossible to engage in entrepreneurial activity on the territory of Mariupol without a Russian passport," Andryushchenko added.

"Also, all judges, lawyers, and lawyers must get accredited in ‘DNR’ by March 1. Not even in Russia, but DNR."

In Mariupol, there is still no water in the city, not to mention the severe problems with electricity and heating. Now, with temperatures dropping below zero, many people are freezing in their homes, the majority of which are left without windows, some even without walls and roofs.

"The situation is very close to a humanitarian catastrophe – severe problems with heating. Only 30% of residents are connected to centralized heating," Andryushchenko explained.

Kyiv Post has recently taken a look at occupied Mariupol and the conditions local residents were forced to live in. You can read more about this story here.

At the same time, according to Andryushchenko, Russians are turning the Mariupol seaport into a military base. The Russians have begun working on dividing the moorings into civilian and military.

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"Today, the Russians are turning the port into a military logistics hub. So far, we can observe only its civilian use," Andryushchenko said. "Vessels with small-sized cargo, such as river-sea-type ships, began entering the port. The entrance to the port and the channel leading to Mariupol are very silted up."

The administration had so far recorded unsystematic cases when the vessels entered the seaport with building materials and containers whose content was unknown.

All local workers, except for some collaborators, according to the mayor's advisor, were dismissed from the seaport in late December, he said. Some of them had been sent to Crimea, and since then, their relatives have had no contact with them.

Instead of the local workers, occupiers have brought in port specialists from Russia.