Head of the DPR Pushilin and Commander of the Novorossiysk Naval Base Rear Admiral Kochemazov at the unveiling ceremony of a memorial plaque in honor of the four dead sailorsMARIUPOL, July 30 A memorial plaque to the sailors of the Russian Navy who died during the liberation of Mariupol (DPR) was opened in the port of this Azov city, RIA Novosti correspondent reports. The ceremony was attended by the commander of the Novorossiysk naval base Viktor Kochemazov and the Donetsk People's Republic Denis Pushilin.»Today we open a memorial plaque to my comrades-in-arms — Novorossiysk sailors who died on May 8 in the course of conducting special actions to unblock the port of Mariupol. From the very beginning of the military special operation, they were in the most difficult directions — where required the highest professionalism, heroism, courage,” Kochemazov said. To the anthem of Russia, civilians laid carnations at the memorial plaque. At the time of the proclamation of the DPR in 2014, Mariupol, with a population of about 450 thousand people, was part of the republic as the second largest city after Donetsk. However, in June of the same year, the Ukrainian security forces captured Mariupol, carrying out a punitive operation there. On May 20, 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the complete liberation of the city — the underground facilities of the Azovstal plant, where militants of the Azov regiment were hiding (against whom criminal cases were initiated in the Russian Federation ) and the Ukrainian military, came under the control of the Russian Armed Forces. Among those killed during the liberation of Mariupol is Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation Captain First Rank Andriy Paly, who fell in battle on March 19. 
The Ministry of Defense spoke about the pace of restoration of Mariupol
