"Resembles ruins": Mariupol City Council posts photos of central library destroyed by Russians
The Mariupol City Council showed what the Korolenko Central City Public Library looks like now in an occupied city.
"This is what the Korolenko Central City Public Library in occupied Mariupol looks like now. The building was destroyed by the Russians," the city council reported on Telegram.
The city council reminded that the Korolenko Central City Public Library moved to a historic building in the very centre of the city in 2019. It was in this building where the first bank in the southeast of Ukraine was opened in 1905, through which financial support for the construction of Mariupol’s Nikopol and Providance metallurgical plants was provided.
The library moved more than 150,000 books from its collections to the building on Hretska Street. A modern co-working space was also opened here, where meetings with cultural and artistic figures, book presentations, and vernissages of local artists were held.
"But the Russians purposefully destroyed all this during the city's blockade. Now the historical building looks more like ruins," the Mariupol City Council stated.
The ancient building of the library was damaged by Russian shelling on 22 April 2022. Then its facades, windows, and roof were damaged. To date, the fate of the library's funds remains unknown.
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