Mariupol Mayor Yury Khotlubei convenes his war council in a drafty hall in the former Continental Hotel, a mint-green palace built more than a century ago. Forty men sit before him in white plastic lawn chairs, several in fatigues and one with an assault rifle slung across his back. One by one, as Khotlubei barks out their last names, they rise to report on the status of policing, utilities and the delivery of supplies to the Ukrainian soldiers dug in on the outskirts of town.
A giant Christmas tree with no decorations looms in the corner. The faded hotel will have …read more
Source: Newsweek
