The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called the exhibition about the alleged "flourishing" of Mariupol under the occupation of the Russian Federation in Modena, Italy, a provocation and instructed it to prepare an official appeal to its embassy in Rome.
The Ukrainian MFA called the exhibition in Italy about the "flourishing" of Mariupol under the Russian occupation a provocation
The exhibition in Modena about the "flourishing" of Mariupol under the Russian occupation is a provocation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has already instructed the Ukrainian Embassy in Rome to prepare an official appeal, said the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko in a comment.
Nikolenko noted that at the official level, Italy strongly supports Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. According to him, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects that there will be an appropriate reaction to this propaganda event.
What is known about the exhibition
Earlier, an announcement of an event in Modena appeared on social networks about how a "rapid recovery process" is allegedly underway in Mariupol under Russian occupation.
According to the Institute of Mass Information, the event in Modena called "Mariupol. Revival after the war" (Mariupol. La rinascita dopo la guerre) on January 20 was announced by the cultural association of the occupying country "Russia Emilia-Romagna" (Associazione Culturale Russia Emilia Romagna).
At this exhibition conference, the Russians want to "present to the Modena public the results of the work of the new city administration after the final release in the spring of 2022, when the Azov battalion surrendered at the Azovstal metallurgical plant."
In the text of the presentation, the Russians call Mariupol, which was destroyed by the shelling of Russian troops and occupied "a city - a symbol of the people's uprising in Donbas against the Kyiv junta, a city-martyr." The occupiers of Mariupol were "liberated" from the "bandit occupation that lasted for eight years"; the Russians count from the moment when Mariupol was under the rule of the so-called "DNR" for some time.
At the same time, the mayor of the city, Mr Muzzarelli (representative of the Democratic Party), commented on the organization of the exhibition: "We will check that the assignment of public space complies with the procedures, but certainly our position regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine has never been questioned."
Ukrainian activists in Italy plan, if the exhibition does take place, to hold a protest and call on all those willing to join, reports the local newspaper of Modena.
