A view shows buildings damaged in the wake of the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 28, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
Mar 30 – The southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol came under heavy fire from Russian forces shortly after the war began on February 24.
According to the mayor, nearly 5,000 people were killed and buildings destroyed across the city. He said 290,000 people had fled as of March 27, but at least 160,000 were still trapped without power and with little food or other supplies. Continue reading
Why is the city so important?
STRATEGIC LOCATION
Mariupol is the largest Ukrainian city on the Azov Sea, which is connected to the Black Sea by the narrow Kerch Strait. The city takes its name from Maria Feodorovna, wife of the Russian Emperor Alexander III, and is about 70 km (43 miles) from the border with Russia. It is also just a few kilometers from areas of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatists who have been fighting Ukrainian government forces since 2014.
Taking Mariupol could allow Russia to create a land bridge between two separatist, self-proclaimed people’s republics in Donbass and Crimea, which Russia captured and annexed in 2014.
Taking Mariupol would also give Russia control of Ukraine’s Azov Sea coast as it also seeks to cut off Ukraine from the Black Sea. Russian forces have already seized the Black Sea port of Kherson some 380 km from Mariupol, and Russia controls Crimea’s Black Sea ports.
The loss of Mariupol and the establishment of a land corridor could give Russian forces an opportunity to encircle Ukrainian troops stationed on the line of contact around Separatist-held territory before the war.
The capture of Mariupol would free Russian troops bogged down there for new tasks such as reinforcing other fronts.
ECONOMIC ROLE
Mariupol plays an important role in Ukraine’s economy as the port is used for the export of iron, steel, grain and heavy machinery, a significant source of income for the Ukrainian government.
It was traditionally a major coal export port during the Soviet era when it was known as Zhdanov from 1948 to 1989, after a communist leader who was born there.
A senior industry official said March 21 that Ukraine faces a potential loss of $6 billion in grain revenue due to the Russian blockade of ports, including Mariupol.
Countries that depend on imports of Ukrainian wheat include Egypt, Turkey and Yemen. The war contributes to global food inflation. Continue reading
Mariupol is also the headquarters of Illich Iron and Steel Works, the second largest metallurgical company in Ukraine, and Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, one of the country’s largest steel rolling companies.
Mariupol has deeper berths than other Ukrainian ports in the region. Their control could help Russia move equipment, goods and personnel between Russia, Donbass and Crimea faster and easier.
DAVID AND GOLIATH
Mariupol has become a symbol of the Ukrainian resistance, with leaders portraying the defeated defenders as heroes fighting an unequal battle akin to the biblical battle between David and Goliath.
Some foreign and Ukrainian leaders have compared the destruction in Mariupol to the devastation caused by Russian attacks on the Syrian city of Aleppo and Grozny in Russia’s troubled Chechnya region.
Mariupol would be the first major Ukrainian city to fall victim to the Russian invaders. A loss would be a potentially severe psychological blow, sapping Ukrainian morale.
By contrast, it could lift spirits in Russia and be hailed by President Vladimir Putin as a major victory in a war that Western military experts say has struggled to achieve its goals.
Russia has slandered the Azov Battalion, a far-right militia that is part of Ukraine’s National Guard and has helped defend Mariupol. One of the stated goals of Putin’s “special operation” was the “denazification” of Ukraine. Western leaders say this is an unfounded pretext for an unjustified war, but Putin would likely hold off a defeat of the Azov battalion or the capture of one of its fighters as a milestone.
Writing from Timothy Heritage; Edited by Andrew Cawthorne