Mariupol concert footage doesn’t prove Ukraine isn’t a warzone

A post on Facebook with a video of what appears to be an outdoor concert has the caption: “A concert in Mariupol Ukraine. I thought this place was supposed to be a war zone?”

It goes on to say “world leaders popping over for photo shoots and Piers Morgan doing Louis Theroux documentaries there then something doesn’t add up. Meanwhile the west is slowly descending to its knees draped in blue and yellow flags. We are having our legs lifted.”

While all evidence points to the video having been filmed in Mariupol in July, this doesn’t prove there isn’t an invasion going on in Ukraine, or that Mariupol did not recently see serious fighting just months previously. 

Mariupol was the focus of intense fighting, which ended in May (and was widely reported at the time) so the city wasn’t a literal “war zone” when this footage was taken. But according to reports the city remains in a serious state. 

So this footage does not appear to provide evidence of widespread misreporting of the situation in Ukraine, as the post appears to imply.

While the video and post’s initial claim are about Mariupol, the post as a whole—including the reference to visits from world leaders and Piers Morgan who interviewed President Zelensky in Kyiv last month—appears to be implying that something “doesn’t add up” in the reporting from Ukraine as a whole. 

The video appears to be a genuine event in Mariupol in July 2022

The video does appear to have been filmed in Mariupol, Ukraine. The white structure that they are performing on matches images of a performance space in Mariupol. Videos on Youtube appear to show the same artist performing at the same event.

Other videos and pictures from the event show that Mariupol has been badly damaged following the Russian invasion. In this video, you can see bombed-out buildings behind a singer on the stage, and Pro-Russian media coverage of the event also shows damage to other surrounding buildings.

A pro-Russian events company in Donetsk posted footage from what appears to be the same performer on the Russian social media network VK, saying (translated from Russian by Google): “The first large-scale event in the liberated Mariupol ! Metallurgist Day ! People return to peaceful life, and there are many of them ! In Mariupol, a large-scale construction has already begun and the city begins a new life !”

Metallurgist’s Day is a holiday marked in Russia and Ukraine, which fell on 17 July this year.

Footage of the concert shows many people sporting flags of the Russian Federation and the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic.

Although Mariupol is now under Russian control and fighting has stopped, other sources indicate the city is in a bad state

After fighting in the region following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia took control of Mariupol in May 2022. The city and surrounding area is still under Russian military control, and was on 17 July, when the concert happened. 

The Facebook post says “I thought this place was supposed to be a war zone”, and comments under it also express scepticism that the city is a war zone.

While it does not appear that Maripol has seen active fighting in recent months, according to the Institute for the Study of War, accounts from international and Ukrainian media suggest the city is still suffering following the Russian invasion.

According to a Reuters report from 21 July, four days after the concert, citizens were still struggling to get by despite fighting that killed thousands ending two months previously. 

Pictures taken show destroyed buildings and the report says: “Some residents interviewed by Reuters said they recognised things had got a little better since the fighting ended but said the overall situation remained dire.”

Around the same time, reports from Ukrainian media of drinking water supply issues, and since then in August, lack of healthcare.