Mariupol is 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?

Controlling Mariupol provides Russia a land corridor connecting the Ukrainian territories it controls. Russia can now more easily move troops and resources between Crimea, the peninsula it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and Russian-controlled territories in the east. Losing Mariupol is also a significant military setback for Ukraine. For Russia, capturing the city marks its biggest victory yet and could help free up forces for other operations. 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.

What has been happening in Mariupol since the Russian invasion?

Early 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 sheltering several hundred people and an art school where 400 people reportedly were hiding underground. The Associated Press said nearly 600 people died in the Russian airstrike on the theater. Blocked by bombs and Russian forces, Ukraine has no official casualty counts. Ukraine said Russia thwarted repeated requests to allow 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 AP, 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 was the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works , one of the largest metallurgical factories on the continent. Its intricate network of underground tunnels were 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 happened in Mariupol, the city Russia besieged and captured?

By Miriam Berger

Loveday Morris

Maite Fernández Simon

and

Niha Masih

Updated May 18, 2022 at 8:25 a.m. EDT|Published March 21, 2022 at 1:20 p.m. EDT

Mariupol resident Sergei Shulgin, 62, stands in front of an apartment block on May 3 that was heavily damaged by Russian bombardment. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

Ukraine evacuated its remaining combatants from besieged Mariupol on Monday, ending its last stand to prevent Russia from capturing the strategic port city after weeks of heavy Russian bombardment.

“Ukraine needs Ukrainian heroes alive,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.

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Hundreds of fighters, many of them seriously wounded, had been hiding in Mariupol’s sprawling Azovstal Iron and Steel Works and its network of tunnels. Combatants included members of Ukraine’s Azov Regiment, a highly skilled military unit with controversial ties.

Hundreds of Mariupol residents also sought shelter in the complex. In early May, the first civilians evacuated the shattered steelworks and were escorted to safety by the United Nations after weeks of negotiations with Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Evacuees from Mariupol steel plant describe brutality of long siege

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

Officials in Ukraine say that as many as 20,000 civilians in Mariupol may have been killed during the Russian siege.

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 happened in Mariupol, the city Russia besieged and captured?

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