(woman speaking Russian)
- [Reporter] Months after Russia's siege
on the city of Mariupol
which saw some
of the war's worst fighting Yulia Sazonova's husband
Vladimir and thousands of others are still unaccounted for.
Now, Russian troops patrolled the largely empty streets
of this strategic southern port city that was once home
to almost 450,000 people.
Those that remain are largely cut
off from the outside world.
(Yulia speaking Russian)
The United Nations estimates as many
as 90% of residential buildings were damaged
or destroyed in the battle for Mariupol.
Now entire housing blocks are being demolished
and Russia is rapidly erecting new complexes.
As families scramble to find the dead
and missing before it's too late
raising fears that evidence of war crimes
and any trace of the missing could be wiped away forever.
This video is pieced together from hundreds
of social media videos over the last five months.
Video diaries from two women searching for loved ones and
from volunteers assisting with the effort to get a glimpse
of the rush to locate the missing.
Since the siege ended in May, Yulia
and many others have been using any resources
they can access to find their loved ones
enlisting volunteers,
(Door banging)
scouring telegram channels
and posting missing notices around the city.
(camera person speaking Russian)
(sad music)
(camera person speaking Russian)
A group of friends who used to post YouTube videos
of gymnastic tricks began filming themselves
exploring the city after it fell.
Commenters soon asked them to search for the missing.
(boy speaking Russian)
(men speaking Russian)
(bombs blasting)
During the siege, many people took shelter
in basements while others fled the city.
With communications down and their lives thrown into chaos.
thousands of people lost contact with each other.
(Kateryna speaking Russian)
Kateryna lost touch with Alexei in early March.
Shortly after the war began, after living
through attacks on the city for more than a month
she and her family were eventually evacuated
and settled in Germany.
In June, that same month, she reached
out to a volunteer who identifies himself
as Dmitri in his YouTube videos to look
for Alexei at his home on Kuprina street.
(Dmitri speaking Russian)
(melancholy music)
(Dmitri speaking Russian)
Kateryna tried following the leads from Alexei's neighbors.
With little luck, Yulia has filed reports
with Russia's occupying forces
as she works to piece together what happened
to her husband since he disappeared in March.
During a brief walk home
(Yulia speaking Russian)
With leads on the ground coming up short, Yulia
and Kateryna both wondered if their loved ones might be
in prison somewhere, Kateryna turned
to the internet for help.
(Kateryna speaking Russian)
Kuprina Street, where Alexei was living
is a particularly stark example
of the rapid pace of Russia's rebuilding of the city.
In recent months, the boys searched
for people at 69 Kuprina Street in August.
(boys speaking Russian)
Since August, we found at least six buildings have
been demolished on one side of the street.
Recent satellite imagery shows one of those buildings
was 69 Kuprina Street.
The new Russian buildings are visible on the other side
of the street.
(people chattering)
The arrival of winter and Mariupol brings the contrast
and conditions of the city into focus.
Shining new apartment complexes continue to appear
as the boys encounter residents living a drastically
different reality.
(boys speaking Russian)
(man speaking Russian)
(melancholy music)
While those still searching, desperately hope their
loved ones are alive.
Videos of growing burial sites in Mariupol have
been circulating for months.
They show fresh graves marked with numbers in the thousands.
Authorities in Mariupol have said that DNA samples
of the dead were taken so that missing people can be traced
in the future.
Experts in finding missing people in conflict say it
will take years to locate those who are still unaccounted
for, and it's unlikely everyone will be found.
The Russian embassy in Washington DC did not respond
to requests for comment regarding the whereabouts
of missing persons in Mariupol
and concerns that human remains are being discarded.
(Kateryna speaking Russian)
(bulldozer banging)
(Kateryna speaking Russian)
(Yulia speaking Russian)
(melancholy music)
(Yulia speaking Russian)