Russia claims to take Mariupol – here’s what came before

The last Ukrainian defenders had withdrawn to the large complex of the Azovstal steel factory and were surrounded there. They were given the chance to surrender from Russia until 12:00 (Dutch time) on Sunday. When the ultimatum expired, there were no reports of a possible surrender.

The fall of Mariupol is a strategically important step for Russia. It has thus gained complete control over the Sea of ​​Azov, creating a land bridge between the occupied Crimea peninsula and Luhansk and Donetsk, the pro-Russian separatist republics in eastern Ukraine.

The fall of Mariupol is the first serious victory for the Russians since they turned to an offensive in southern and eastern Ukraine. They will now undoubtedly want to continue that offensive. If Mariupol’s tough resistance is any measure of the course of the rest of the war, however, Russia will have to be patient and pay a heavy price for more territory.

In the line of fire

Due to its strategic importance, Mariupol had been in the line of fire since the beginning of the war – on February 24 – shelling was reported as early as the first day of the invasion. From Wednesday, March 2, the city was surrounded by Russian troops.

A few days later, the warring factions made a first attempt to open a ‘humanitarian corridor’ through which civilians could leave the city and aid supplies could reach the city. Time and again those attempts failed. Both sides accused each other of violating the truce.

The first successful evacuations took place only after two weeks. However, not everyone was able to safely leave the city. Buses were stopped or confiscated and civilians with their own transport got stuck at Russian army checkpoints. Ukraine accuses Russian troops of forcibly deporting 40,000 civilians from Mariupol to Russia. On March 28, according to the mayor, 160,000 residents were still detained in the city.

After completing the blockade, the Russian army did not immediately enter Mariupol. It bombarded the city incessantly with grenades, rockets and aerial bombardments. No distinction was made between military and civilian targets; an important aim of the devastating shelling seemed to break the morale of the population.

mass graves

During the bombings, a children’s hospital annex maternity hospital and a theater were hit. About a thousand civilians were hiding under the theater, 300 of whom, according to the Ukrainians, were killed.

Mayor Boichenko estimated on April 12 that about 21 thousand civilians had died. Ukrainian President Zelensky spoke of “tens of thousands dead” in Mariupol a day earlier. Such numbers cannot be independently confirmed, and the mayor also admitted that the exact number of victims is difficult to determine. The dead are buried in mass graves or makeshift graves where they died, because it was too dangerous to give every dead a regular burial under constant shelling.

The question is how much reliable information will come out about what happened in the port city. After the Butya massacre, Zelensky warned: “We are getting reports from Mariupol that it is much worse there,” but Russia will not allow independent observers to investigate what war crimes were committed there and by whom. Now that the city is in the hands of Russian troops, Russia can cover up facts or blame Ukrainians, without it being verified.

Historical importance

The fall of Mariupol had been a long time coming. Zelensky said on March 27 that he was in daily contact with the city’s defenders. ‘I told them, ‘If you think you should get out, that that’s the right thing, and that you can survive, then do it. I understand’.’ They refused, according to Zelenski, because they did not want to leave their dead and wounded behind in the city.

Besides strategic, the fall of Mariupol is also of historical importance. In May 2014, pro-Russian separatists briefly took control of the city. However, thanks to an uprising among workers at the major steel mills and opposition from the infamous Azov battalion, the city returned to government control in Kyiv.

The Russians will widely publicize the fall of Mariupol (population 450 thousand), the second and largest Ukrainian city they captured in this war. The fall of the only other significant city, Kherson (300 thousand inhabitants, on 2 March), has already been over a month ago. Now that the battle for Mariupol is over, the way is open to Zaporizhzhya, the city where many civilians from Mariupol have fled.