Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the title of "City of Military Glory" to Mariupol in the Donetsk region (the city is still occupied by the Russian Federation) destroyed during the invasion of Ukraine, as well as to the occupied Melitopol in the Zaporozhye region. The decree is posted on the official Internet portal of legal information.
"For courage, steadfastness and mass heroism shown by the defenders of the city in the struggle for the freedom and independence of the Fatherland, to award the city of Mariupol the honorary title of the Russian Federation "City of Military Glory"".
The same wording appears in the decree on conferring the title of "City of Military Glory" to Melitopol.
In April, the Mariupol City Council, citing local residents, reported that Russian troops began the process of exhuming bodies that were buried in the courtyards of residential buildings, while the burial of the exhumed dead was prohibited. It is unknown where these bodies went. In November, Maxar published satellite images of graves near Mariupol, according to the BBC, more than 1,500 graves could be dug at the mass grave site.