Looks like the search engine giant section has been updated Satellite imagery City sign for 2022 dated images.
As a result of Russian bombing, many buildings in the city are shown to have collapsed.
The difference: Google Earth shows images of Mariupol in 2021 and 2022. Image: Google Earth
Earlier satellite images of Ukraine on Google Earth were mostly dated to 2021, before Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
Visible destruction included the ruins of a theater in the city, which was destroyed in March last year when civilians hid inside the building.
Collapse: A theater in Mariapur was one of the buildings that collapsed in March last year. Photo: Pavel Klimov / Reuters
New satellite images show flattened homes, destroyed shopping malls and other public buildings.
Mariupol has been the scene of fierce fighting since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Leveled: Russian occupation of Mariupol left the city virtually a ghost town. Photo: Google Earth
The bombing of the theater was part of the long siege of Mariupol. The port city is located on the Sea of Azov, and is considered vital to Russian supply lines between the areas they control in the south and east of Ukraine.
The public took shelter in the theater, and signs reading “Children” were placed on both sides of the building.
According to Ukraine, at least 300 people were killed in the attack. Russia denies bombing the theater on purpose.
Ukrainian forces in Mariupol resisted two months before the city fell to Russia, which still occupies the area.
Prayer for Western Arms
Ukraine has not launched an announced counteroffensive, which is expected to happen this spring.
Kyiv continues to press its Western allies for long-range weapons, tanks and fighter jets before attempting a counterattack in the coming days, weeks or months.
Last Friday this week, Norway’s Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt made a request for F16 fighter jets during a visit to the port city of Odessa.
Ministerial visit: Anniken Hudfeldt and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Photo: Simen Asker / TV2
– We must knock Russia out of the sky. “We need F16 from our allies,” was the request of Ukraine’s foreign minister.
– We expect Norway to become part of the F16 alliance. We understand that this is American technology, it has to start with a yes from America, but I have no doubt that it will happen,” Dmytro Kuleba told TV2.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pressed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on arms deliveries at a meeting in Kyiv last week.
Meet Stoltenberg: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to ask for Western arms. Photo: Press service of the President of Ukraine
“I have asked him to help overcome the reluctance of our allies to provide certain weapons such as long-range weapons, modern aircraft, artillery and armored vehicles,” the president told a press conference.
At the same time, Stoltenberg said that Zelenskyj has been invited to attend the next NATO summit in July and stressed the need to support Ukrainian military logistics.
Invitation: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has invited the Ukrainian president to a NATO summit this summer. Photo: Andre Bain / AFP
– Maybe it sounds a bit boring.
The NATO chief promised to increase the already massive arms supply.
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