MARIUPOL, March 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin, together with Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, drove through the streets of Mariupol. At the same time, traffic in the city was not blocked, the head of state calmly drove a car in a stream with other cars, follows from the footage published on Sunday.
The deputy chairman of the government, sitting in the passenger seat, made an impromptu tour for him, giving succinct explanations about what kind of objects they pass, what has already been done and what remains to be done.
Khusnullin drew Putin’s attention to the completely restored lighting on the roads. “There was no lighting at all,” he remarked. According to him, the roads along which the Russian leader’s route ran “have already been more or less repaired.” He also showed new traffic lights and landscaped squares.
The Deputy Prime Minister also noted that both an Orthodox church and a mosque are located in the park near the sea, they are already working. “Services are going on, everything is fine,” he said. Khusnullin showed Putin where it is planned to make a comfortable descent to the embankment. In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister reported that the creation of new jobs is being considered at the moment. “The people began to return when they saw that restoration was underway. The people began to actively return simply as families. We see this clearly and clearly,” he commented.
Khusnullin also announced the launch of public transport. According to him, 110 buses are already operating. “We want to launch the first tram route by the summer,” he said, adding that there are trams themselves, and the lines are being repaired. “Was there a decent network here?” Putin asked. “The network was quite large. Here, in total, several tens of kilometers were obtained,” Khusnullin replied.
The Deputy Prime Minister paid special attention to the restoration of residential infrastructure. In particular, he thanked Putin for the decision on preferential mortgages for new regions. In Mariupol, there are people who want to build, and there are people who want to buy housing, the Deputy Prime Minister said. He also spoke about the support for entrepreneurs who want to open stores on the first floors: they can get an interest-free loan. Separately, Khusnullin noted that the seaport of Mariupol also has a “good prospect”.
Mariupol was liberated in April 2022 during a special military operation, while part of the grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was blocked in the industrial zone of the Azovstal metallurgical plant. On May 20, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the surrender of almost 2,500 Ukrainian militants blocked at the plant and the completion of the operation to liberate the city.
