‘It’s like the USSR’: residents on life in Mariupol a year since Russian occupation

People tell Guardian of ‘primitive’ living standards, propaganda in schools and constant risk of arrest

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The mood in Mariupol has “changed dramatically”, according to residents who thought Russia would stay forever but are now expecting a swift Ukrainian military offensive to recapture the city.

In a series of anonymous interviews with the Guardian, people said Mariupol had been transformed into a gloomy version of the Soviet Union since the last Ukrainian defenders holed up in the Azovstal steelworks surrendered to Russian troops a year ago.