By Olha Chepil | 2026-03-23

For many of the nearly 200,000 displaced Mariupol residents now scattered across Ukraine, Lviv has become a place where community, culture and memory are being rebuilt.

According to the "I Am Mariupol" support center, close to 10,000 displaced persons from Mariupol have officially sought assistance in Lviv, though the actual number in the city is likely higher. The Mariupol City Council relocated there after the 2022 invasion, and numerous humanitarian and psychological support centers have followed.

"After 2022, a very large number of Mariupol residents arrived in Lviv," Lviv activist and architect Bohdan Goy told Kontur, noting that displaced residents have integrated actively, working in construction and services, running businesses and continuing creative work.

The last train out

Artist Vasyl Korenchuk spent nearly his entire life in Mariupol, dedicating close to 50 years to his craft. He had been preparing a solo exhibition at the Arkhip Kuindji Art Museum, with the opening set for February 25, 2022 -- one day after the full-scale invasion began.

"I was preparing for the exhibition in Mariupol; I had about 600 works in the museum," Korenchuk told Kontur. "The solo exhibition was already set up, the works were hanging -- but then the war began."

He grabbed his belongings and caught the last train to Lviv. The tracks were destroyed shortly after. When he later searched for information about his paintings, he found them in Russian media.

"I saw my paintings; they were propped against a wall somewhere in Donetsk. In the photo, some girl was copying my landscape. The Russians moved some of my works, others might have been burned -- I just don't know," Korenchuk said.

He continues to paint in Lviv and his work appears regularly in exhibitions.

"I remember every little street in Mariupol; I painted so many landscapes there. I am still painting them now, from memory," he said. "Mariupol was always Ukraine. Even in Donetsk, people spoke Ukrainian before the war. My father and mother-in-law worked in the mines after the war, restoring them. Everyone spoke Ukrainian."

A city reconstructed

Some of Korenchuk's paintings are now on display at the Porokhova Vezha (Gunpowder Tower) Center of Architecture as part of "MUI -- Mariupol: Ukrainian Identity," an exhibition dedicated to the city's pre-war history and the preservation of its memory.

The centerpiece is a nearly 270-square-foot (25-square-meter) 3D model of Mariupol, built from 300 individual segments. It recreates streets, homes, the port, the Azovstal plant and the Sultan Suleiman and Roxelana Mosque -- the city's largest. Any displaced resident can find their street, and their own home, on the model.

"This is something that has never been done before -- the creation of Ukraine's first full-scale urban model of Mariupol," Angelina Efimenko, director of the Porokhova Vezha Center of Architecture, told Kontur.

The model is accompanied by video mapping that traces Mariupol's history from its earliest Cossack settlements through industrialization and up to the Russian occupation.

"In the future, we will be able to use video mapping to show Mariupol's return to Ukraine," Goy said.

The exhibition also includes historical maps, archival and contemporary photographs, and individual models of destroyed landmarks.

"It is a tool for preserving memory and Ukrainian identity -- and, at the same time, an opportunity to see the city through the eyes of its residents," Efimenko said.

Building for the future

Before the war, Mariupol was home to roughly 500,000 people and served as Ukraine's largest Azov Sea port and a major industrial center. Since February 24, 2022, it has been under Russian military control.

Lviv city authorities and representatives of the Mariupol community have since signed a memorandum of cooperation to build social housing for displaced residents, including the development of a new residential quarter.

"I sincerely thank everyone who supports Ukrainian Mariupol in its life in exile. Yes, we are in exile today, but thanks to you, we continue to exist and live," said Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko at the signing.

While their city remains occupied, Mariupol's residents continue to preserve it -- through memory, art and the slow work of rebuilding life elsewhere.