Russia deliberately destroyed Mariupol. The Center for the Study of Occupation has released the first direct evidence that Moscow was preparing to seize the Ukrainian city long before the full-scale invasion began.

According to Petro Andriushchenko, the head of the organization, in 2019, Russia officially developed and published a project for a “transport and transit hub” on the territory of Mariupol.

This confirms that the occupation and destruction of the city were not a chaotic result of warfare, but part of a premeditated plan.

The project in question already listed Mariupol as part of the Russian-controlled illegal entity located in Donetsk Oblast territory. The documentation outlined the creation of an infrastructure hub in the Zhovtnevyi and Prymorskyi districts, south of the historic center, with specific geographic boundaries: from Pushkin and Kotovsky streets to the shoreline of the Taganrog Bay.

Two Russian institutions, the Arena Institute and the Unified Institute for Spatial Planning of the Russian Federation, which is responsible for urban policy in occupied territories, prepared the project.

“This is the first public proof of preparations for the complete destruction of Mariupol prior to the full-scale invasion,” Andriushchenko emphasizes.

Earlier, Zaur Gurtsiyev, deputy mayor of Stavropol and former commander of the air operation over Mariupol, was killed in a grenade explosion that occurred overnight on 29 May. The explosion reportedly occurred in southern Russia’s Stavropol city near a residential building.

He was awarded multiple Russian state honors, including an order for his role in the occupation of Mariupol.

Grenade explosion kills Russian commander behind 2022 Mariupol deadly airstrikes

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• War diary: “Terrified of what He saw, God has left Mariupol, my neighbor said”

These planes aren’t just expensive — they can’t be replaced. On 1 June, Ukraine launched a devastating operation, Spiderweb, against four Russian airbases, destroying and damaging over 40 aircraft, including key strategic bombers with AI-powered FPV-drones, Channel 24 reports. 

According to Oleh Katkov, editor-in-chief of Defense Express, the losses amount to billions of dollars, and Russia has no way to replace them. 

“A strategic bomber costs an astronomical amount. Its value isn’t even measured in money, especially for Russia. To illustrate, a modern strategic bomber costs over a billion dollars per unit, simply because so few are produced,” says Katkov.

Among the lost aircraft, the Tu-160 supersonic missile carriers, developed during the Soviet era, are especially valuable. Katkov notes that Russia has only about 18 of them left, and not a single one was built from scratch after the Soviet Union collapsed.

The situation is even worse with the Tu-95 bombers — Russia no longer produces them at all.

“The only partial replacement they can attempt is to take a Soviet airframe and try to assemble a ‘new’ aircraft around it. But there’s nothing truly new in their inventory,” Katkov explains.

Thus, the strikes on Russia’s strategic aviation don’t just weaken its military power — they expose a deep crisis in the country’s defense-industrial complex.

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that the coordination center of the Security Service of Ukraine’s operation Spiderweb on Russian territory was located directly next to one of the FSB’s regional offices. 

As a result of the operation, A-50 radar planes, Tu-95, and Tu-22M3 bombers were struck. The estimated value of the destroyed bombers exceeds $7 billion. 

He added that 117 drones were used in the operation, each operated by a separate team.