The siege of Mariupol is one of the most brutal battles of the war so far in Ukraine, highlighting the cruel tactics Vladimir Putin’s Russia is prepared to use.
Defiant defenders holed out with remaining civilians in the now-famous Azovstal Steel plant to the East of the city, with reports surfacing of horrific conditions as Russia closed it.
It started at the beginning of the wider invasion of Ukraine on February 24 and ran until May 20 2022 meaning the bulk of the fighting was concentrated throughout the spring months one year on.
Ukraine claims to have killed 6,000 Russian troops for the loss of 906 of its own soldiers and 25,000 civilians.
Russia claims it killed 4,200 Ukrainian soldiers and 3,000 civilians.
The city was devastated, with attritional tactics used to grind its defenders into dust. But the resilience of the Ukrainian forces, at the centre of which was the hardened Azov Regiment, far outlasted what anyone, especially Putin, thought was possible.
-
The Avozstal Steel plant was the centre of a brutal siege
(Image: ullstein bild via Getty Images)1 of 11 - Share
- Comments
-
Residential blocks were badly damaged
(Image: EyePress News/REX/Shutterstock)2 of 11 - Share
- Comments
-
Footage released by Ukraine’s Azov Regiment on April 12, 2022 shows destroyed Russian tanks
(Image: EyePress News/REX/Shutterstock)3 of 11 - Share
- Comments
-
The damage was widespread
(Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)4 of 11 - Share
- Comments
-
The Russian military is understood to be rebuilding Mariupol
(Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)5 of 11 - Share
- Comments
-
Russian serviceman patrols near the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)6 of 11 - Share
- Comments
-
Reparation works despite the continuation of the war
(Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)7 of 11 - Share
- Comments
-
Entire neighbourhoods have been obliterated
(Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)8 of 11 - Share
- Comments
-
Fighting spread through the city for the best part of three months
(Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)9 of 11 - Share
- Comments
-
Mariupol has seen fighting since before the main invasion.
Seen here: Ukrainian servicemen patrol around a damaged building after shelling in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on 24, 2015
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)10 of 11- Share
- Comments
-
Mariupol remains in Russian hands almost a year on
(Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)11 of 11 - Share
- Comments
- Russia Ukraine war
- Russia
- Vladimir Putin
- Ukraine
Source: Read Full Article
-
Paedo mum-of-three, 28, who groomed boy, 15, into sexual relationship while plying him with booze & cannabis dodges jail | The Sun
-
Putin 'purges three more generals' on Bloody Sunday
-
Crew evacuated as fire breaks out on Russia's only aircraft carrier
-
Daily horoscope for July 28, 2023
-
Man’s horror at finding mum and teen sister dead after opening burger van door