Ukraine has launched a series of surprise attacks on Russian troops and supply lines in Mariupol – the first attacks on the city since it fell to the Kremlin last May after a brutal three-month siege that left the important port in ruins.
The past week has seen at least 18 strikes for three consecutive days – the last on Friday night – in a sharp increase in Ukraine’s efforts to retake its seized southern corridor, the stretch of coast linked to Crimea.
There is speculation that the blasts – which came amid Kiev’s warnings of a Russian offensive on the first anniversary of the war – may have involved newly donated US long-range missiles with a range of nearly 100 miles.
Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said: “Our military is destroying Russian terrorists who entered our city called Mariupol. And believe me, distance doesn’t play a big role for us today.”
Analysts believe the new initiative heralds the start of Ukraine’s efforts to drive a coastal wedge between Russian forces in the east and south of the country. There is talk of a major spring offensive once their military is reinforced with Western weapons.
Ukrainian forces fired a missile yesterday. Ukraine has launched a series of surprise attacks on Russian troops and supply lines in Mariupol
Russian Mishanin with his daughter Daria (pictured), whom he said goodbye to at the train station in Odessa on April 4, 2022. He has now met her in Germany
Moscow has made Mariupol a significant garrison for its forces, believing the Azov Sea port is too far away for the nearest Ukrainian forces to hit, some 60 miles away in the hotly contested mining town of Vuhledar.
Mariupol sources say the attacks, which were targeted with the help of local sympathizers, hit ammunition depots, fuel depots and a military barracks at a steel plant, resulting in 50 Russian casualties in the first wave of blasts on Wednesday.
Twelve strikes were reported that day, and five the following day – including at least two more at the Illich steel and iron works and one near the airport. Another explosion occurred around 10:30 p.m. on Friday.
Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the Mayor of Mariupol. said: “I am absolutely happy. We worked hard with our resistance in Mariupol for this attack. This is a step towards de-occupation of Mariupol. Every Ukrainian should be happy.”
Another local official said Russian targets were also hit in the villages of Yalta and Yurivka, some 20 miles down the coast from Mariupol, where there is a “large concentration of occupiers”. Oleg Zhdanov, a former Ukrainian artillery colonel and leading defense analyst, said: “What we are seeing in Mariupol is a systematic destruction of logistical assets for the Russians. It looks the same as before the recapture of Kherson.’
A Ukrainian counter-offensive liberated Kherson four months ago in a major blow to Vladimir Putin’s claims that he had annexed the entire region, though the city continues to face frequent shelling from Russian forces.
A Russian Mishanin says goodbye to his nine-year-old daughter as the train with his family leaves for Poland in April 2022
Zhdanov said Mariupol is a key Russian hub for troops, arms, ammunition, fuel and food. “Liberation is not only possible, it is inevitable.
“The only question is what weapon was used to reach Mariupol. We can only guess.’
Intelligence sources in Kiev declined to discuss the attacks. Previously, Ukraine has used drones, special forces and groups of local partisans to attack deep behind enemy lines and even locations inside Russia.
Liberation is not only possible, it is inevitable
Last summer, the dynamics of the war shifted after the US began supplying multiple rocket launchers called HIMARS, which fire satellite-guided missiles with a peak range of 50 miles — more than anything Ukraine had previously possessed.
Earlier this month, Washington announced it would nearly double Kiev’s strike range with the delivery of the small-diameter ground-launched bomb, a precision-guided missile that can be launched in any weather and eliminates electronic interference.
Russian propagandists claimed these bombs were used in the Mariupol attacks – although the attacks could involve long-range kamikaze drones already used in attacks on bases in Crimea and Russian airfields.
After the first attack last week, Russian-appointed officials tried to reassure local residents by claiming their air defenses shot down two Ukrainian drones. Before the war, almost half a million people lived in the industrial port of Mariupol, but after the Russian bombings this leveled off sharply. The city is believed to be occupied by only about 90,000 Ukrainians.
Moscow is believed to have brought in about 40,000 civilians, many from Central Asia, to clear the rubble and cover up war crimes. Ukrainian symbols are being torn down while Russian education, passports and television are being imposed.
Mykhailo Dianov, a Ukrainian marine who took part in the brutal final battles of the Azovstal Steelworks siege, said Mariupol could easily be recaptured because its forces know all the bunkers, entrances and loopholes in the defenses.
“The only difficulty is that civilians stay there,” he said.
An 18-year-old student who stayed to look after his elderly grandmother claimed to have heard the explosions. “The Russians didn’t expect it. They keep saying everything is fine, that there were drones and they just shot them down, but my house was shaking,” he said.
An elderly woman in Mariupol said Russia has failed to fulfill promises to residents – including repairing a huge hole in her roof caused by her bombing. “You lied to us,” she said. “They don’t even pay pensions on time. Life got a lot worse.
We worked with our resistance in the city
“A year ago we had everything. Yes it wasn’t perfect but we had food and heating and there were all the products in the shops. I miss Ukrainian shops – it’s expensive and the choice is so bad and nobody has money.”
“I don’t know who is right and who is wrong. All I know is that I’ve had a better life. I was hoping Russia would do more for us.”
General Valery Zaluzhny, head of Ukraine’s armed forces, said he promised a four-year-old boy that they would liberate Mariupol this year. Perhaps these strikes last week are the beginning of keeping that promise.