Visit By The Russian Defense Minister To Mariupol, A Ruined Ukrainian City

One year after his men surrounded the city and razed it to the ground, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the war-torn city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine, his ministry stated on Monday.

In eastern Ukraine, the city of Bakhmut has been the scene of the longest-running fight of Russia’s engagement in Ukraine, and his visit comes as Russian soldiers are closing in on the city.

One of the highest-ranking officials to visit east Ukraine, according to the ministry, Shoigu, inspected the devastated port city to monitor rehabilitation operations.

The defense ministry’s efforts to rebuild the infrastructure in Donbas were under Shoigu’s “inspection,” according to the ministry, which made no mention of the visit’s timeframe.

He went to a military-built medical facility, an emergency situations ministry dispatch center, and a freshly developed neighborhood with a dozen five-story homes.

At the beginning of its campaign last year, Russia began a scorched-earth offensive on Mariupol, eradicating the Azovstal steel complex, the final stronghold of Ukrainian troops in the city.

According to investigative groups connected to imprisoned Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, officials from the defense ministry are making money off of Mariupol’s rehabilitation projects.

After claiming that Shoigu had spoken with Russian military stationed at a “command post in” eastern Ukraine, the ministry made its revelation today.

The Russian mercenary organization Wagner has been leading Russia’s arduous battle to seize Bakhmut on the ground.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, its creator and a Kremlin supporter, often criticizes the defense ministry in online films purportedly shot from the front.

Despite being one of the deadliest fights of the conflict, analysts claim that even if Russia were to take control of the salt-mining city of Bakhmut, it would not significantly advance Moscow’s position in the Donbass.