Moscow claims to have taken control of Mariupol. The embattled port city on the Sea of Azov is of strategic and symbolic importance – and could be crucial to Russia’s war.
It is possible that one day Mariupol will stand for this war, for all the horror and suffering that has been gathering in the besieged and bombed port city for eight weeks now. The embattled metropolis on the Azov Sea is already a symbol of terror: Hardly any other place in the Ukraine is likely to have suffered as much from the Russian war of aggression – . Now Russia claims to have taken Mariupol.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said of the situation in Mariupol: “The remaining Ukrainian combat units are entrenched in the industrial area of the Azovstal factory.”
Around 2,500 fighters have withdrawn from the operation, which is symbolic for the region, including 400 mercenaries, as the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Monday. According to Ukrainian media reports, up to 1,000 civilians, including many children, are said to have sought refuge there.
The strategic and symbolic importance of Mariupol
President Vladimir Putin ordered the steelworks not to be stormed. A corresponding order should be withdrawn. The fighters in the catacombs should lay down their weapons. “The Russian side guarantees their lives,” Putin said. He spoke of success and the “liberation of Mariupol”. According to Defense Minister Shoigu, the Ukrainian units are completely blocked. The minister said the factory would also be captured in three to four days.
The battle for the port city of Mariupol is seen as seminal for Russia’s war in Ukraine, and an actual capture would be of both strategic and symbolic importance.
- Mariupol is the last point on the Azov Sea coast not yet fully controlled by Russian forces. If the separatist republics of Luhansk and Donzek, which are recognized by Russia, remain formally independent, then they would have access to the world’s oceans with Mariupol. They could export their production themselves via the well-developed largest port on the Sea of Azov, independently of Russian land routes via the inexpensive waterway.
- The overland route from Mariupol to the Crimean Peninsula, which has been annexed by Russia since 2014, is also a subject of much discussion. However, the road links are unlikely to be of any interest to Russia because of their poor condition. What is also important from a military point of view are the railway connections further north via Volnowacha, recently conquered by Russian troops, in the direction of Melitopol, which has been under Russian control since the end of February, and from there to Crimea.
- Before the war, the region’s second largest city after the separatist stronghold of Donetsk accounted for a large proportion of Ukrainian exports. “The Mariupol plants contribute to more than a third of Ukraine’s steel production,” said the general director of the concern Metinvest, Yuriy Ryzhenkov, at the end of March. Due to the destruction alone, the loss of this foreign exchange earner is likely to have a negative impact on the exchange rate of the national currency hryvnia and thus on the general level of prosperity in Ukraine after the war.
- Above all, Mariupol also has great symbolic importance for the “Azov” National Guard Regiment, which was founded by neo-Nazis and nationalists and is still dominated by them. According to the founding myth of the unit, the unit, which was founded by volunteers in early May 2014, liberated the port city, which was then controlled by separatists, less than a month later. In the meantime, however, “Azov” has already lost its base in the neighboring port city of Berdyansk. Should Mariupol fall as well, it would mean the defeat of the core of the unit that the Russian troops fought with particular severity. Russia is likely to celebrate this as a major partial victory in its war of aggression against Ukraine.
- The persistent resistance in Mariupol against the Russian invasion has so far ensured that, according to Ukrainian information, a Russian group of around 14,000 soldiers with heavy equipment is tied down. With the fall of the port city, these would become free. The Russian soldiers could bring the decisive advantage for the long-awaited Russian offensive towards Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Ukraine demands humanitarian corridor for Mariupol
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government has demanded a humanitarian corridor from Russia for the surrounded Azovstal steelworks. “There are about 1,000 civilians and 500 wounded soldiers there right now. They all have to be taken out of Azovstal today!” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on Thursday in the Telegram news channel.
The port city is surrounded by Russian troops shortly after the start of the Russian war of aggression, which has been going on for two months. Several attempts to orderly evacuate civilians into government territory failed.
Source: Stern
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
