Mariupol is located on the Sea of Azov in the southern part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region. It was founded in the late 18th century and later became a center of industry, producing steel and other metals. It lies between the Russian-held Crimean Peninsula and other areas of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by pro-Moscow separatists. Many of its residents speak Russian.

Why is Mariupol important to Russia?

A victory there for Russian troops would be the first of the war and would help free up forces for other operations. It would also give Russia and land corridor connecting territories under its control. In 2014, after fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine, Russian-backed separatists battled Ukrainian troops for control of Mariupol. The city changed hands several times before Ukrainian government forces eventually prevailed. The fighting, however, did not stop in other parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. An estimated 14,000 people died there between 2014 and Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24 of this year. (Russia also unilaterally annexed Crimea in 2014.)

What has been happening in Mariupol since the Russian invasion?

Early on in the war, Russian troops moved to encircle Mariupol. About a quarter of its residents fled. The Russian military eventually cut off all food, electricity, medical supplies and communication networks as it constantly shelled the city, indiscriminately hitting such sites as homes, schools and hospitals as residents stayed in bomb shelters for days at a time. Among the places hit have been a hospital and its maternity ward, a theater where several hundred people were said to have taken shelter, and an art school where 400 people reportedly were hiding underground. Ukraine said Russia thwarted repeated requests for allowing humanitarian aid into the blockaded city. Eventually, humanitarian corridors were opened, and thousands of residents took treacherous paths to leave. The last two international journalists in the city, reporters with the Associated Press, were able to escape in mid-March as Russian forces pursued them. Kremlin propaganda falsely claimed that their photos were staged. Three weeks into the siege, Ukrainian forces defending Mariupol, which have included members of Ukraine’s far-right Azov Regiment, lost their grip. Russian troops entered nearly all parts of the city. One of the last holdouts is Azovstal Iron and Steel Works , one of the largest metallurgical factories on the continent. Its intricate network of underground tunnels is being used both by Ukrainian fighters and an unknown number of civilians seeking refuge from Russian bombs.

Why is Russia accused of committing war crimes in Mariupol?

A fact-finding report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe published April 13 concluded that Russia broke international humanitarian law while invading Ukraine and that the targeting of the maternity hospital and the theater sheltering civilians in Mariupol constituted war crimes. Under international law, it is illegal to indiscriminately target civilians and besiege them during war. It is also illegal to target sites such as hospitals and to forcibly transfer populations. According to the report, the investigation found “clear patterns of international humanitarian law violations by the Russian forces in their conduct of hostilities.” A report published March 21 by New York-based Human Rights Watch said the International Criminal Court, the United Nations and other jurisdictions “should investigate potential war crimes in Mariupol.” Human Rights Watch said that in interviews with 32 people who escaped the port city, many described seeing bodies strewn on the roads when they went outside in search of food, water or a phone signal. With the disruptions to phone lines, they could not talk to relatives, find out what was happening in the city or know whether they could safely evacuate. “Mariupol residents have described a freezing hellscape riddled with dead bodies and destroyed buildings,” said Belkis Wille, a Human Rights Watch senior crisis and conflict researcher. “And these are the lucky ones who were able to escape, leaving behind thousands who are cut off from the world in the besieged city.” Ellen Francis and Adam Taylor contributed to this report.

World

What is happening in Ukraine’s Mariupol, the city under Russian siege?

By Miriam Berger

Loveday Morris

Maite Fernández Simon

and

Niha Masih

March 21, 2022|Updated May 3, 2022 at 6:46 p.m. EDT

Mariupol resident Sergei Shulgin, 62, stands on May 3 in front of a block of flats heavily damaged by the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

The first civilian evacuees from the battered Mariupol steelworks complex where Ukrainian fighters have made a last stand against Russian forces arrived Tuesday in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

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The 101 civilians were escorted to safety by the United Nations following weeks of negotiations with Russian and Ukrainian forces. They had been holed up in bunkers under the sprawling Azovstal Iron and Steel Works along Mariupol’s waterfront as Russia’s military pummeled the city.

Evacuees from Mariupol steel plant describe brutality of long siege

Last month, Russia declared victory over Mariupol, even as a contingent of Ukrainian troops held out at the plant and refused Moscow’s demand that they lay down their arms. Russian forces now control most of the city, a strategic seaside hub with a prewar population of roughly 450,000.

Officials in Ukraine say that up to 20,000 civilians in Mariupol may have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion in February.

Here’s what to know about the siege of Mariupol — and the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there now.

Understanding the Russia-Ukraine conflict

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What is happening in Ukraine’s Mariupol, the city under Russian siege?

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