As part of an investigation into the 2022 siege and devastation of Mariupol, Human Rights Watch, SITU and Truth Hounds are publishing data that helped inform the project.
Unable to conduct research in Mariupol, we relied on testimony from hundreds of survivors and witnesses, analyzed, verified and geolocated more than 850 photographs and videos, analyzed satellite imagery of graves to estimate the death toll, conducted a remote block-by-block assessment of the extensive damage in the city center, and investigated which Russian forces and commanders may be responsible for war crimes.
We focused on damage to buildings on and around Myru Avenue, also known as the Avenue of Peace, a central artery of the city. Our investigation included analyzing 4,884 damaged or destroyed buildings in an area measuring roughly 14 square kilometers, which makes up a quarter of the city’s urban zone. Creating 3D models of seven buildings within this area helped illustrate the extent of the damage, and document it in case buildings were later demolished. These seven buildings, referenced below, each represented a different and unique part of life in Mariupol.
This archive is supplementary to the report, "'Our City Was Gone': Russia’s Devastation of Mariupol, Ukraine," and an accompanying digital multimedia feature “Under the Rubble”. It is organized around the feature's sub-sections. This archive of selected assets, which include images, videos, screenshots, 3D models, shapefiles, documents, publications, reports, posts, and other data and assets, and links thereto, is a non-commercial platform related to the project. By clicking on the links below you will be taken to a Google Drive file where you can view files directly or download them to your device. The shapefiles need to be downloaded, unzipped and then reupload it to a GIS software program in order to view the data.
The archive is made available as a courtesy by Human Rights Watch solely for informational purposes to support your own personal or organizational non-commercial and internal research efforts. Human Rights Watch does not hold rights to the majority of the assets in this archive, and, as such, does not grant you a license or permission to share, publish, sell, license, reproduce, distribute, digitally transmit, publicly display, or publicly perform any assets or creative derivative works based on any assets. Your access to and use of the archive is subject to these Terms.
Additionally, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has created and made available selected assets related to the Human Rights Watch investigation into the 2022 siege and devastation of Mariupol. These are available here. As a condition of access to or use of any such HRW assets, you are subject to and agree to the HRW Multimedia Newsroom Terms & Conditions of Use. Except as otherwise stated in and subject to the HRW Multimedia Newsroom Terms & Conditions, including without limitation, the limited license terms, you do not need to request permission from HRW before publishing or using assets obtained from the HRW Multimedia Newsroom.
In a handful of cases, Human Rights Watch altered assets in order to protect the identities of individuals, including witnesses and survivors according to its internal security and privacy assessments. This includes among other things blurring faces and usernames, removing audio, and cropping out or removing identifying information in the asset itself and/or the description of the asset.
- A video shows a large building in Mariupol being demolished, posted to YouTube by VTM, a Russian demolition company, on October 18, 2022.
- Visual assets
- A video of people cooking outside of Mytropolytska 98, posted to Telegram by a user on March 15, 2022.
- A video showing the front of Mytropolytska 98 on fire after a March 11, 2022 strike, posted to YouTube by a user on April 22, 2022.
- A video showing the back of Mytropolytska 98 on fire after a March 11, 2022 strike, posted to TikTok by a user on April 22, 2022.
- A video showing the ruins of Mytropolytska Street 98 after a March 11, 2022 strike, posted to Telegram by a user on March 20, 2022.
- A photograph showing the ruins of Mytropolytska Street 98 after a March 11, 2022 strike, posted to Telegram by a user on March 31, 2022.
- A video showing the ruins of Mytropolytska Street 98 in late April 2022, shared with Human Rights Watch by a relative of Arina Antipenko.
- 3D model here.
- Fact sheet here.
- Visual assets
- A photograph showing the Children’s Diagnostic Consultancy Unit at Hospital #3 in Mariupol before the March 9, 2022 strike, published on the hospital's website.
- A photograph showing an examination room at Hospital #3, before the March 9, 2022 strike, published on the hospital's website.
- A photograph showing a large crater near Hospital #3 following the March 9, 2022 strike, posted to X (formerly Twitter) by a user on March 9, 2022.
- A video showing damage inside Hospital #3 after the March 9, 2022, shared with Human Rights Watch by Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- A photograph showing medical professionals treating a wounded patient in the bunker below the Hospital #3 complex on March 19, 2022, provided to Human Rights Watch by an individual who sought shelter in the bunker.
- 3D model here.
- Fact sheet here.
- Visual assets
- A photograph of Pryazovskyi State Technical University before the attack on March 9, 2022, posted by a user on Facebook on March 12, 2022.
- A video of Mykhailo Puryshev running for cover during an attack on Pryazovskyi State Technical University on March 9, 2022, provided to Human Rights Watch by Mykhailo Puryshev.
- Photographs here and here of Pryazovskyi State Technical University following the March 9, 2022 attack, published on the university's website.
- A photograph of a scorched car in front of the damaged Pryazovskyi State Technical University following the March 9, 2022 attack, provided to Human Rights Watch by Petro Hzyzun.
- 3D model here.
- Fact sheet here.
- Visual assets
- A video showing the remains of the community around Marinska Balka Street 67, following the March 10, 2022 attack, posted by a user to YouTube on August 3, 2022.
- 3D model here.
- Fact sheet here.
- Visual assets
- A video showing a strike in the vicinity of Torhova 20, shared by @MariupolNow on Telegram on April 7, 2022.
- 3D model here.
- Fact sheet here.
- A photograph showing eight make-shift graves dug near the Regional Hospital in Mariupol, shared by a user on rg.ru on March 31, 2022.
- Visual assets
- A photograph showing the ruins of Myru Avenue 42 following the March 22, 2022 attack, published by ria.ru on April 28, 2022.
- A video showing the ruins of Myru Avenue 42 following the March 22, 2022 attack, posted to YouTube by a user on June 7, 2022.
- 3D model here.
- Fact sheet here.
- Evacuation information shared on the Mariupol City Council’s Telegram channel on March 15, 2022. Download the HTML file here (and open in Telegram) or a screenshot here.
- Evacuation information shared on the Mariupol City Council’s Telegram channel on March 18, 2022. Download the HTML file here (and open in Telegram) or a screenshot here.
- A video report by Natalia Mnatsakanyan, a news anchor for the Russia-occupation controlled Mariupol 24, posted to a Telegram channel by a user on February 10, 2023. In the report, the anchor says occupation forces planned to process 1.5 million tons of construction waste annually, which were formed as a result of repair and restoration work, including the dismantling of buildings and structures.
- A photograph of a notice of demolition works in Mariupol, posted by a user to Telegram on May 27, 2023.
- The occupation authorities’ “master plan” for Mariupol, from July 2022, which involves the restoration of the city in three years. It was promoted by the Russian Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation and Denis Pushilin, the head of the DNR, and appears to have been commissioned by the Russian Construction Ministry and prepared by a Russian federal organization called the Unified Institute of Spatial Planning.
- Human Rights Watch conducted a comprehensive damage assessment of an area of interest around Myru Avenue in Mariupol measuring roughly 14 square kilometers, a quarter of the city’s urban zone. A damage assessment is available for download here.
- Locations of the cases studies included in the report and in the accompanying digital multimedia feature are available for download as a Shapefile here.
- Human Rights Watch conducted a damage assessment of all Mariupol districts documenting damage and destruction of hospitals, schools and universities.
- Human Rights Watch based its analysis of electricity cuts on known electricity network data derived from Open Infrastructure Map, which contains data for power lines, stations and towers.
- Human Rights Watch based its analysis of water cuts on known network and facilities data derived from WASH Cluster reports 1,2
- Using high-resolution satellite imagery, Human Rights Watch estimated the number of new graves per cemetery in the first year of the conflict.
- Geolocated photos also helped determine the location of some makeshift graves.
- An organigram created by Human Rights Watch identifying 17 Russian and Russian-affiliated military units that were operating in the city in March and April 2022, and their chain of command.
- A screenshot from a video posted to Ramzan Kadyrov’s account on March 31, 2022, shows then-Lieutenant General and commander of the 8th Combined Arms Army Andrei Mordvichev (center right) in Mariupol.
- A screenshot of the memorial site Vechnaya Pamyat on June 6, 2022, which reported that a serviceman of the 68th Tank Regiment Russian was killed in action on March 12, 2022.
- A screenshot of Russian memorial site Vechnaya Pamyat, which reported on April 28, 2022, that a serviceman of the 102nd Motor Rifle Regiment was killed in action in Mariupol on March 6, 2022.
- A screenshot of Russian media confirming on March 20, 2022, that commander of the Black Sea Fleet Andrey Paliy was killed in action in Mariupol.
- A screenshot of a post on the Telegram channel of Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev, which reported on September 20, 2022, that a serviceman of the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade was killed in action in Mariupol.
- A video posted by Andrei Filatov, a reporter with Russia Today, and shared on the @milchronicles Telegram channel on April 19, 2022, featuring the commander “Struna” of a unit subordinated to the 382nd Naval Infantry Brigade in Mariupol.
- A video from a post on the Telegram channel WarGonzo on April 16, 2022, that shows the flag of the 1st Separate Tank Battalion over the Main Directorate of the National Police in Mariupol.
- A report from the Head of the DPR Denis Pushilin’s website showing him awarding servicemen of the 105th and 107th Motor Rifle Regiments on July 16, 2022, for their role in the “liberation of Mariupol.” Download as an HTML file here.
- A video released by Russian media on March 14, 2022, and posted to Telegram showing the 9th Separate Marine Regiment in Mariupol.
- A video posted on the VK page of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the DNR in April 2022 that shows the Kaskad battalion in Mariupol.
- Russian memorial page Vechnaya Pamyat reported on April 28, 2022 that a serviceman of the 22nd Separate Special Purpose Brigade was killed in action in Mariupol on March 8, 2022. Download as an HTML file here.
- Russian media reported on April 17, 2022 that a serviceman of the 346th Separate Special Purpose Brigade was killed in action in Mariupol. Download as an HTML file here.
- A video posted to Twitter by a user on April 16, 2022, showing the servicemen of the 141st Special Motor Regiment in Mariupol.
- A video posted by Head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, to his personal Telegram channel on March 19, 2022, showing the commander of an unspecified subordinate unit Isa Taymaskhanov with call sign “Hamas” subordinated to the 2nd Special Purpose Police Regiment in Mariupol.