January 27, 2024

“The real estate market here is very non-standard,” says the Russian journalist matter-of-factly as she's shown a devastated apartment in the downtown core of Mariupol, a city destroyed by the Russian invaders but now offering Russians tremendous opportunities. Fixer-uppers are plentiful and available at bargain prices, provided you're willing to make the necessary repairs (like missing walls, lack of power, plumbing, etc.), clean off the blood stains, and throw out old broken furniture, such as children's cribs. With a little elbow grease, they're a steal. Literally.

Source: New Voice of Ukraine

Ukrainians are outraged after a realtor’s conversation with a Russian journalist in Mariupol shows them mocking the destroyed homes of Ukrainians in a real estate deal, with one disgustingly asking “Why haven’t the owners tidied up?”, NV reports.

The brutality and inhumanity displayed in the exchange has incensed Ukrainians as the pair cynically discusses whether to invest in new buildings or buy the half-destroyed homes in the city center.

The Russians refer to the destroyed Ukrainian apartments as razrushka, (can be translated as wreckies) – and informal and disrespectful term implying potential profit in the future.

“A TikTok report on Mariupol's property market introduced me to razrushka, (‘Is it worth investing in a ruin?’),” wrote Ukrainian stylist Tetyana Kremіn on Facebook. “The report's crystal-clear insensitivity is striking. Along with the realtor, the host walks through a once-beautiful, now wrecked apartment, where children's items lie amidst household clutter. Their surreal dialogue peaks in the kitchen, with its collapsed ceiling and shattered windows, where the realtor gushes about its size. The journalist laughs,” before making the comment about the owners.

"These people are genuinely fucked in the head." Sure, but this is normal for Russians. They've been doing this for hundreds of years if not a thousand years. Stealing others' property and calling it their own.

Gerashchenko is using a translated word, destruct. The Russians have their own word for these type of properties, razrushka.

"If you don’t get a gut-wrenching feeling from this video, watch Academy-nominated “20 Days in Mariupol” to understand the scale of the horror that Russia unleashed on this city."

You can watch the now Oscar-nominated Frontline/Associated Press film 20 Days in Mariupol on YouTube. And I agree, it is gut-wrenching.

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