Xinhua News Agency via Getty ImagesA damaged building in Mariupol (photo taken on April 17, 2022).
WAR IN UKRAINE – After a nearly two-month siege, Russia announced on Thursday, April 21, that it has taken almost complete control of Mariupol, a strategic Ukrainian port. The capture of this city deprives Ukraine of its access to the Sea of Azov. Most importantly, it allows Russian troops to connect the Donbass with Crimea, annexed by the Kremlin in 2014, giving Moscow several options.
After a series of setbacks since February 24, the date when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Russia announced in late March that it would now focus on the east of the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday hailed a first victory since Russian forces deployed by capturing Mariupol, which he said was “liberated” with “success”. But that will not be the end of this war.
Intensified attacks on Kharkiv
Tensions have escalated in recent days in Kharkiv and its region, which has been under attack by Russian troops for the past two months. Proof that this city in north-eastern Ukraine remains one of Moscow’s main targets while the battle for Mariupol appears to have ended, despite the resistance of the last fighters entrenched in the Azovstal metallurgical site.
“The situation is tense because the night was marked by massive shelling,” said the mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Igor Terekhov, in a CNN report on Thursday. According to the city council, “two markets were destroyed” in Kharkiv, and firefighters were busy “putting out fires” there. “Another residential building was directly attacked,” he added.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported “attempted attacks” by Russian troops on the towns of Sulygivka and Dibrivne in the Kharkiv region.
Simon MALFATTO, Paz PIZARRO / AFPMap of the situation in Ukraine from April 21
Russian attempt to take the entire Donbass
Russia could also move Russian troops towards Donbass with the support of pro-Russian separatists and Chechen soldiers, who have so far been concentrated in Mariupol, in order to gain complete control of the area. According to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in eastern Ukraine, “Russian forces continued their heavy air and artillery attacks while continuing to consolidate logistics and their command capacities for a major offensive.”
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the start of the “Battle” for Donbass, home to the two self-proclaimed pro-Russian republics of Luhansk and Donetsk. “A very large part of the entire Russian army is now devoted to this offensive,” the Ukrainian leader said in a speech broadcast on Telegram. On Wednesday, the Ukrainian defense minister reported “attempted attacks”. […] on Rubishne and Severodonetsk, in the Lugansk region”.
Among the wrap-ups of the Russian operations, Michel Goya, a former naval colonel and war historian, mentions “the Severodonetsk region (half of Mariupol in the region) and its environs [qui] have been resisting since March 2”. “She’s under a lot of pressure now,” he wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
“The goal is to separate this fortress from that of Sloviansk-Kramatorsk-Druzkhivka-Konstantinovka,” he explains, “the main goal.” “The 2nd Army Corps is still attacking in the Popasna region in the south of the zone, adds Michdel Goya. The progress of this first Russian pinch is slow but real.”
The Severodonetsk region (= ½ Mariupol in area) and its surroundings have been resisting since March 2nd. She’s under a lot of pressure now. Russian efforts are directed to the north of the Lyman zone, 15 km northeast of Sloviansk, to Rubishne, which borders Severodonetsk.
— Michel Goya (@Michel_Goya) April 21, 2022
The goal is to separate this stronghold from that of Sloviansk-Kramatorsk-Druzkhivka-Konstantinovka (SKDK), the main objective.
The 2nd Army Corps (LNR) is still attacking in the Popasna region south of the zone.
The progress of this first Russian clip is slow but real.— Michel Goya (@Michel_Goya) April 21, 2022
On Thursday, Britain’s Defense Ministry said that “Russian forces are now advancing from base areas in Donbass towards the town of Kramatorsk, which remains the target of persistent missile attacks.”
In early April, the Kramatorsk railway station, where civilians were staying, was the target of a rocket attack that killed at least 57 people. Still under Ukrainian control, it is seen by many observers as an important issue for the Kremlin. “The Russians are coming through Izium, 70 kilometers away, and they want to cut us off from central Ukraine,” the city’s mayor Oleksandr Goncharenko told RFI.
Governor Serguiï Gaïdaï again called on civilians to evacuate the Lugansk region, noting that “the situation is getting more complicated by the hour”. Earlier this week he announced that the city of Kreminna was “unfortunately under the control of Orks,” the derogatory nickname given to the Russian military.
Despite the multiplication of attacks on Donbass, for General Jean-Paul Perruche, former Director of the European Union General Staff interviewed by La Dépêche du Midi, “even if [les Russes] managed to conquer Donbass in whole or in part, behind them the Ukrainians will not give up, which will become a war of attrition, a guerrilla war”.
Strikes and insecurities in southern Ukraine
Russian troops are also attacking southern Ukraine. Bombing was observed in Mala Tokmatchka and Orikhiv, 70 km southeast of Zaporijjia. These two villages are located between the Mariupol region and the city of Kherson, the first major city captured by the Russian army in early March.
Ukrainian authorities said Thursday morning that Russian forces in the rest of the south “continue artillery fire along the entire front line.” Fresh strikes took place on Mykolaiv on the Odessa road, resulting in one death and two injuries, according to Governor Vitaly Kim.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have conducted a series of airstrikes, particularly in the Mikolaiv area, and aimed artillery at nearly 60 Ukrainian “command centers” in the east and south of the country. But the city of Odessa, more than 200 kilometers from Cherson, which was bombed in early April, seems to have been spared by Russia for the time being.
See also on the Huffpost: These aerial photos of Mariupol are chilling