INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A few days after the announcement that St
Petersburg would officially be twinned with occupied Mariupol, St
Petersburg governor Alexander Beglov visited the devastated Ukrainian port city seized by Russia after three months of bloody
A few days later, he elaborated on the plans for the twin-city status, announcing that St
Petersburg would finance the rebuilding of houses, schools and kindergartens in Mariupol, and send teams of construction workers.The new
Petersburg and Mariupol is the most high-profile example of a Kremlin program to assist the war-torn, occupied territories of Ukraine by
Yegor Aleyev / TASSIn total, more than 40 Russian regions have announced they are assuming patronage over areas of Ukraine seized by Russia
since the program was unveiled in May.Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin last month pledged to rebuild the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk in order
former official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.The idea of twinning Russian and Ukrainian cities is believed to be the brainchild of
President Vladimir Putin himself
But Putin entrusted the realization of the project to his deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko, who oversees occupied Ukrainian territory
for the Kremlin.Kremlin official Sergei Kiriyenko taking part in the unveiling of a monument to "granny Anya" in
Mariupol.denis-pushilin.ruKiriyenko, who announced the program, was one of the first top Kremlin officials to visit occupied Ukraine when he
on a smaller scale, were organized in the port city of Mariupol, where the United Nations estimated last month that the fighting had damaged
While Russia announced Sunday that it had taken control of the entirety of Luhansk region, much of Donetsk region remains in Ukrainian
long list of Russian towns and regions to announce new affiliations, little is known about exactly how much money will be committed, or
where exactly it will come from
