A vital land bridge
Capturing Mariupol would connect mainland Russia to Crimea, the peninsula it annexed from Ukraine in 2014. This could help link its forces in Crimea to Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
BEL.
RUSSIA
Chernihiv
Sumy
Russian-held areas
and troop movement
Kyiv
Kharkiv
LUHANSK
UKRAINE
Izyum
Luhansk
Dnipro
DONETSK
Donetsk
Separatist-
controlled area
since 2014
100 MILES
Mariupol
Russian-held areas
and troop movement
Mykolaiv
Kherson
Odessa
Sea of
Azov
RUSSIA
Crimea
Annexed by Russia
in 2014
Control areas as of
April 20
Sources: Institute for the Study
of War, AEI’s Critical Threats Project,
Post reporting
Black
Sea
THE WASHINGTON POST
BEL.
RUSSIA
Separatist-
controlled area
since 2014
Chernihiv
Sumy
Kyiv
Kharkiv
LUHANSK
Izyum
Dnipro
DONETSK
Russian-held
areas
Mykolaiv
Mariupol
Kherson
RUS.
Crimea
Odessa
Annexed by
Russia in 2014
Black
Sea
150 MILES
Control areas as of April 20
Sources: Institute for the Study of War,
AEI’s Critical Threats Project, Post reporting
THE WASHINGTON POST
BELARUS
RUSSIA
Chernihiv
Sumy
POLAND
Russian-held areas
and troop movement
Kharkiv
Kyiv
Zhytomyr
LUHANSK
Poltava
Lviv
Izyum
Cherkasy
UKRAINE
Kramatorsk
Luhansk
DONETSK
Dnipro
Uman
Kirovohrad
Donetsk
Zaporizhzhhia
Russian-held areas
and troop movement
Mariupol
Separatist-
controlled
area since
2014
Mykolaiv
ROMANIA
Berdyansk
Melitopol
Kherson
Sea of
Azov
Odessa
RUSSIA
Crimea
Annexed by
Russia in 2014
100 MILES
Black
Sea
Control areas as of April 20
Sources: Institute for the Study of War, AEI’s Critical Threats Project, Post reporting
Taking Mariupol would free up Russian troops who could be sent to the Donbas region, now the focus of Moscow’s offensive, Tracey German, a Russian security policy expert at King’s College London, said in an email.
The city provides a “highway going north” that would enable Russian soldiers advancing from Mariupol to join with units moving down from the Kharkiv region to encircle Ukrainian forces, said Samuel Charap, senior political scientist at the Rand Corp.
“For the Russians, it’s geographically important for a land bridge to get to Crimea,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told MSNBC on Monday. “And if, in fact, their goal is to cut off the Donbas region and to fix Ukrainian forces there so that they can’t be used elsewhere in the country to defend themselves, then you can see the logic of trying to take Mariupol.”
A devastated and symbolic battleground
Russian troops surrounded Mariupol early in the war, and many residents fled. An estimated 120,000 civilians, roughly a quarter of the prewar population, remain in the city. Russian attacks on a maternity hospital, a theater and an art school sheltering civilians drew international condemnation and accusations of war crimes.
The Russian military cut off food, electricity and medical supplies. Even with communication lines down, harrowing tales of hunger and desperation have emerged.
Troop movement and Russian-held
areas in Mariupol
Feb. 24
Separatist-
controlled
area
Mariupol
Sea of
Azov
Russian forces approached Mariupol from the east and started shelling the city.
March 7
10 MILES
After taking over the city of Berdyansk located almost 50 miles west, Russians attacked from the east and west, encircling the city.
April 1
Theater
Theater
An airstrike hit a theater where hundreds were taking shelter. The Russians continued shelling and advancing on the city.
April 20
Azovstal
steel plant
Russians are poised to take
control of the city, as Ukrainians hold the Azovstal steel plant, where hundreds of civilians are gathered.
Troop movement and Russian-held areas in Mariupol
Separatist-
controlled
area
Feb. 24
March 7
10 MILES
Mariupol
Sea of
Azov
Russian forces approached Mariupol from the east and started shelling the city.
After taking over the city of Berdyansk located almost 50 miles west, Russians attacked from the east and west, encircling the city.
April 20
April 1
Theater
Azovstal
steel plant
An airstrike hit a theater where hundreds were taking shelter. The Russians continued shelling and advancing on the city.
Russians are poised to take control of the city, as Ukrainians hold the Azovstal steel plant, where hundreds of civilians are gathered.
Troop movement and Russian-held areas in Mariupol
Troop movement and Russian-held areas in Mariupol
Separatist-
controlled
area
Separatist-
controlled
area
April 20
April 20
Feb. 24
Feb. 24
March 7
March 7
April 1
April 1
10 MILES
10 MILES
Mariupol
Mariupol
Theater
Theater
Azovstal
steel plant
Azovstal
steel plant
Sea of
Azov
Sea of
Azov
After taking over the city of
Berdyansk located almost 50 miles west, Russians attacked from the east and west, encircling the city.
Russian forces approached Mariupol from the east and started shelling the city.
An airstrike hit a theater where hundreds were taking shelter. The Russians continued shelling and advancing on the city.
Russians are poised to take
control of the city, as Ukrainians hold the Azovstal steel plant, where hundreds of civilians are gathered.
Three weeks into the siege, Ukrainian forces — including the controversial Azov Battalion — faltered, and Russian forces surged deeper into the city. By the start of this week, it was clear that Ukrainian fighters were making their last stand at the steel plant, where a commander told The Washington Post his soldiers were “dying underground.”
For both Ukraine and Russia, Mariupol holds symbolic significance. Ukrainian troops and forces backed by Moscow have vied for control of the city before. In 2014, after war broke out over eastern Ukraine, Russian-backed separatists took Mariupol briefly before Kyiv’s troops won it back that June.
A Russian victory would make Mariupol the first major Ukrainian city to fall since the February invasion, delivering Putin a propaganda boost. But Mariupol is also notable for how long Ukrainian forces were able to defend it, Charap said.
Economic impact
Sartana
Mariupol
Azovstal Steel
Plant
Theater
Stadium
Port
2 MILES
Sartana
Mariupol
Azovstal
Steel
Plant
Airport
Theater
Stadium
Port
2 MILES
Sartana
Mariupol
Azovstal
Steel
Plant
Airport
Theater
Sea of
Azov
Stadium
Port
2 MILES
Mariupol is the largest trading port on the Sea of Azov and a critical export hub for steel and grain. Its seizure gives Russia control of the Ukrainian coast on that sea, crippling maritime trade that is “vital for the Ukrainian economy,” German said.
For Moscow, controlling a port of this scale would make maritime transport between Russia, Donbas and Crimea easier, according to open-source intelligence agency Janes.
Mariupol also has a profitable metal industry. Azovstal and a nearby steelworks owned by the same company accounted for roughly a third of Ukraine’s steel production in 2019. Steel and related industries made up 12 percent of Ukraine’s gross domestic product that year.
Russian takeover has been devastating for civilians. Ukrainian authorities estimate that up to 20,000 have been killed, while Russian bombs have reduced vast swaths of the city to rubble. Hundreds of thousands of residents have fled.
“Before the Russians came we were beautiful. There were new businesses opening, new homes; we were starting to flourish,” one woman who fled Mariupol this week told The Post. “They destroyed everything.”
Louisa Loveluck in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, contributed to this report.