Officially, those whose houses have been destroyed or demolished can apply to get a flat in the newbuild estates going up.

Both Russian state TV and pro-Kremlin YouTube channels routinely show apparently happy families moving into their new homes.

Yet many locals, including the ones we spoke to, report that the process is agonisingly slow, and there are many restrictions in practice, resulting in the new buildings standing half-empty.

Svetlana (not her real name) says her grandmother is still waiting for a flat to replace the one she lost when her building was pulled down, months after being notified that she would get her new flat in March.

“People are put on some kind of waiting list and don’t know where they’ll get a flat,” Svetlana, who left to live abroad after the war, told the BBC.

Alexander told the BBC that he believes flats are being given out “very sparingly and very selectively” to people who are “clearly of pro-Russian views”.

A common reason for refusal – widely reported by Mariupol residents online – is if someone owns property other than their demolished flat, even a plot of land, a share in a flat or holiday cottage in the country.

One woman whose block was demolished, Anna, told local pro-Russian TV station Mariupol 24 she was denied a replacement flat because she owns an 8 sqm shed in a village 40km outside the city.