I am an occupier - Russian media publish diary of engineer from Russian Federation who worked in Mariupol

Russian media outlet Mediazona has published the abridged diary of an engineer from Russia who spent a month in occupied Mariupol and worked on a construction site there.

Source: Russian independent online media outlet Mediazona,

Quote from the diary: "I am an occupier here; no one invited me here, although maybe someone did, but definitely not 99% of those who voted ‘for’. [The engineer recalls the results of a sham referendum during which the majority of Mariupol residents allegedly voted for joining Russia - ed.]

Men say that sometimes someone comes to the construction site with grapes and some treats, and from some other people you catch contemptuous glances. A few days ago, our crane operator's crane was mined with tripwires, and this happened for two nights in a row. The only conclusion is that we are not welcome here."

Details: The media outlet calls the man Andrei Ivanov, noting that his name has been changed. He came to Mariupol in the autumn and saw the city destroyed by his fellow citizens. Ivanov's assignment lasted a month, and he counted the days until he would return home. 

Ivanov described how on the first day when he arrived, he was constantly shaking with fear; he saw the city destroyed by the Russians, the military, who were "like children" with guns, and a woman near a destroyed high-rise building who called the Russians invaders and shouted that they had brought a lot of grief.

The engineer wrote that the attitude of the local citizens toward the Russians was "rather negative", that he "understood this perfectly", and that he was afraid that he "could be killed here, and they would have every right to do so".

In his diary, the occupier wrote about his life as a construction worker and shared his observations about life in the occupied city and the attitude of Ukrainians toward the Russian invaders. 

According to Ivanov, local residents "almost always talk about the war", and "in fact, nothing happens in the city except explosions and mine clearance".

The Russian also describes a day when "there were missile strikes all over Ukraine", and he was very scared, because "he was in the occupied territory" and "nothing prevented the Armed Forces of Ukraine from firing missiles on Mariupol".

According to the Russian engineer, he "loves life very much and hates war", and in Mariupol, he felt "as if the countdown timer" of his life had just started. 

Within a few days in the city destroyed by his compatriots, Ivanov began to write that "he missed a normal life, meetings with friends, and his apartment".

The Russian, who came to the country that his country is trying to occupy, said that he was "very tired", constantly afraid, and wanted to leave the captured city "as soon as possible and go as far as possible", and that he "always appreciated life, but here [in Russian-occupied Mariupol - ed.] he appreciated it even more".

Quote from Ivanov: "It was the scariest and most traumatic experience of my life. I've been to a place where there's a war going on. What did I see here? Only people. There were no demons with horns, no mythical enemies, not even any Nazis, but just ordinary people."

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