In 2020, American blogger PippenFTS launched a server where users build Minecraft replicas of cities around the world. A Ukrainian team of enthusiasts joined the initiative and began working on a large-scale digital model of Mariupol.
Using satellite imagery, maps, and panoramic views, the participants transferred real coordinates into the game, recreating the terrain, transport interchanges, tram lines, building facades, and shop signs.
The builders also recreated large murals on residential buildings. The most famous of them is Milana — a mural depicting a Mariupol girl who was injured in the shelling of the peaceful Skhidnyi district, which was later destroyed by the occupiers.
“The reconstruction of the city takes place in the game’s creative mode," City Council wrote.
"Virtual Mariupol is open to all users with a licensed version of the game. Here, people can walk familiar routes, see recognizable streets, and feel the rhythm of the city as it existed before Russia's full-scale invasion.”
The project participants noted that this initiative is not only a digital reconstruction of buildings, but also a way to preserve the identity of a Ukrainian city.