Schoolchildren in the “city of terror” Mariupol applauded Putin on the first day of school.

Russia razed most of the large city of Mariupol to the ground. However, Russian TV showed a live propaganda show on Friday with Vladimir Putin and school children in town.

Before the war, Mariupol was a completely ordinary city with a population of about 450,000.

Early in the war, the Russians had destroyed most of Mariupol.

And in a big VG report back in March, we referred to it as “The City of Terror.”

September 1 is always the first school day in Russia, and on Friday a new school opened in Mariupol for 1,100 pupils. And in the Russian way, all the children were given bouquets of flowers for their teachers.

A first-grader named Ivan had to thank Vladimir Putin for “taking care” of them. Behind him stood the Russian-appointed leader of the Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin (42):

– I want to thank you very much for your interest in my dear city, Mariupol, said the little boy to Putin – who participated via video link.

One of the respondents is the powerful advisor in the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior, Anton Gerashchenko:

– A child thanks Putin for the “liberated” Mariupol. Most of the schools in the city were razed to the ground. Many children and their families were killed and wounded and expelled from the city. Thugs, sign X/ Twitter.

Many people on social media remember the Russian attack on a theater in Mariupol on March 16, 2022. A Russian plane dropped a bomb on the stage, even though the word “children” was written on the ground next to the building. It is perhaps the only attack in the Ukraine war that claimed the most civilian lives. Maybe 300 died. Maybe 600. The exact number was never known. Mariupol has become a symbol of the horrors of war.

– I feel nauseous, writes Natalka, who has a huge following. X/ Twitter.

This takes place a day after the international premiere of the documentary “20 Days in Mariupol”, a harrowing account of the fate of civilians during the siege of the port city on the Sea of ​​Azov.

The National Resistance Movement of Ukraine claims that schoolchildren living in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine cannot attend school if they do not have Russian passports, reports say. Ukraineskaya Pravda. This has not been confirmed elsewhere.

President Vladimir Putin celebrated the first day of school in style. Among other things, he had “hours” with Russian schoolchildren and Male, among others On World War II:

– We were completely invincible. And now we are, too, said the president.

Putin told children fairy tales about an “invincible” Russia, the Ukrainian news agency reported union.