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While Russia appears poised to capture Mariupol after more than six weeks of invasion, the governor of Ukraine’s Donetsk region said on Friday that while Ukrainian troops control the strategic port city, Mariupol has been “erased from the face of the earth” by the Russians powers.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor, told CNN that troops are still “bravely” defending Mariupol against Russian forces, which have bombed the Azov Sea city and left it in ruins.
“The enemy cannot capture Mariupol. The enemy may conquer the land where Mariupol used to stand, but the city of Mariupol is no more,” Kyrylenko said. “The city of Mariupol was wiped off the face of the earth by the Russian Federation, by those who can never restore it.”
Russian troops have besieged Mariupol for over a month, cutting off its citizens with few exceptions of food, water, warmth and humanitarian aid. Russian troops have wrested parts of the city from Ukrainian control.
Analysts predict it will likely be the first major Ukrainian city to fall in the coming week. The occupation of Mariupol would give Russia control of the Azov Sea coast and serve as a land bridge between Russian-held territories in eastern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia took from Ukraine in 2014.
The situation in Mariupol remains “complicated,” Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, told a news conference on Friday. Motuzyanyk claimed that Russia was still focused on attacking industrial areas and the port of Mariupol and that the invading forces increased their shelling, using a long-range Tu-22М3 bomber for the first time to attack the city.
“But the Russians haven’t managed to take full control of the city yet,” he said.
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The ongoing destruction in Mariupol comes as the United Nations renewed calls for civilians to be allowed a safe route out of the besieged city. Humanitarian organizations have been trying for weeks to facilitate safe passage corridors from Mariupol, with mixed success. It is believed that around 100,000 people are still in the city, which had a population of 450,000 before the start of the war.
“Tens of thousands of civilians in Mariupol — which has been an epicenter of horror since the conflict began — and elsewhere in Ukraine have endured 50 days of violence and shelling,” said Martin Griffiths, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, on Thursday in a press release.
Griffiths added: “I urge the parties to the conflict to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, homes and civilian infrastructure throughout Ukraine.”
While Ukrainian troops have slowed Russia’s efforts to claim Mariupol, Russia’s Defense Ministry on Friday claimed another advance and said its forces were now in full control of Mariupol’s Ilyich Iron and Steel Works.
But Ukrainian forces in Mariupol control the Azovstal Steel Works, one of the largest metallurgical factories in Europe. The Azov Battalion, one of Ukraine’s most skilled – and most controversial – battalions Military units defended the sprawling steel mill east of the city from repeated attacks this week, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War. A photo shared by a reporter from the Kyiv Independent newspaper appeared to show smoke billowing from the heavily industrialized area.
Azovstal is operated by Metinvest, which last year produced about 45 percent of Ukraine’s steel output. The company, which produces millions of tons of iron, steel and finished rolled products annually, is owned by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man.
Eduard Basurin, a pro-Moscow separatist leader, said Monday he expected Russian forces to deploy “chemical troops” in Azovstal to “smoke moles out of their burrows,” the institute reported. The Azov Battalion, which has been linked to far-right nationalism, later claimed Moscow used chemical poison against troops in the region. The United States and several international organizations are investigating the allegation.
By many accounts, Mariupol witnessed some of the invasion’s worst atrocities. In March, Ukraine accused Russia of attacking a maternity hospital there; Videos and photos of the aftermath show children and bloodied pregnant women fleeing. A week later, a playhouse where hundreds were taking shelter was bombed – even though the word ‘children’ was painted in Russian on the floor outside.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko told the Associated Press that at least 21,000 people had been killed in Mariupol, with the bodies “scattered about the streets.”
On Friday, Kyrylenko said Ukrainian and Russian forces could be locked in a major battle in Mariupol in the next few days. He noted that while Russia suffered losses in armor and personnel at Mariupol, the governor “did not see a full-scale offensive in all directions, as we expected.” and that the city remains under Ukrainian control.
“The Ukrainian flag flies over the city of Mariupol,” he said.
Looking ahead, Kyrylenko told CNN restoring Mariupol one day is “only something Ukraine can do.”
“The Russians will never be able to do that,” he said. “So the city of Mariupol no longer exists.”
Julian Duplain and Paul Sonne contributed to this report.