Besieged residents of Mariupol have been trapped without running water, heating and power for an eighth day after the city was captured by Russian military forces.
Anna Holovchenko is a 34-year-old English teacher whose family is trapped in Mariupol, a port city located on Ukraine’s south-eastern border. She fled to Germany by car with her one-year-old daughter on February 28, leaving her family behind.
“All my family, [my] parents and sister are in Mariupol. I have no contact with them for seven days. There is no any mobile connection in the city. They are blocked,” she says.
Their week-long, 2000-kilometre journey should have taken one day according to Google Maps. She travelled through four countries before she arrived at her destination late on Sunday night. She is terrified for her family in the captured city.
There are dead bodies lying in the deserted streets and 90 per cent of buildings have reportedly been destroyed.
Image: The wreckage of a car sits on the streets of Mariupol.
On Wednesday Ms Holvochenko heard that her parents are alive but she is concerned for their welfare.
“It’s so cold so they melt the snow just to drink the water. All the shops are empty, pharmacies empty. Some people don’t know any information about the green corridor because they stay inside. They need help to leave the city,” she says.
A six-year-old girl named Tanya died alone from dehydration in Mariupol after Russian forces shelled her home and killed her mother, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on Tuesday.
A children’s and maternity hospital was hit by Russian shelling yesterday and pregnant women had to be pulled from the rubble. The hospital is located in the city’s west on Myru Avenue – in Ukrainian, Myru translates to “peace”.
Aleksandra Guzhvii is a 31-year-old beautician from Mariupol who left the city on February 26 with her daughter, sister and niece.
She believes that her house is intact because she uses the very little footage available to “analyse whether [her] house is intact or not.”
At the time of publication, Ms Guzhvii had not heard from her husband.
“Men were released from the cities, but they are not released from the country. Many of our men stayed in the city because they are not cowards!” she says.
The planned evacuation from the city was foiled on Tuesday after continued bombardment from Russian forces. The shelling began only three hours after the ceasefire was due to begin at 9am local time.
“Ceasefire violated! Russian forces are now shelling the humanitarian corridor from Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko tweeted.
There are areas of the city where residents and soldiers can gain access to mobile phone reception for only minutes at a time. It appears that mass graves are being dug in trench-like holes, according to photos released from the city this morning.
Image: Google Maps.
The city was secured by Ukrainian troops in June 2014 but has been attacked by pro-Russian forces associated with the Donetsk People’s Republic several times since. The United Nations (UN) described a deadly rocket attack on Mariupol in 2015 as a war crime because it killed 30 civilians.
Anna Holovchenko said the destruction is palpable.
“So many houses have been ruined since 2014 on the left side of the city. It was my husband’s mother’s area. A lot of people died, there were whole families killed.”
The Port of Mariupol played a key role in the industrialisation of the country and is home to Azov Shipyard which is the largest ship repair enterprise in the Sea of Azov.
The seizure of the city is an important step to help the separatist-occupied Donbas become economically viable because Mariupol is the port through which much of the steel and other industrial products of the Donbas are exported.
The Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) is a self proclaimed breakaway state located about 25 kilometres from Mariupol and was established in April 2014.
Dr Sara Meger is a lecturer in International Relations at Melbourne University, she says the current capture of Mariupol is not necessary for the DPR and that the localised insurgency is more likely to be a Russian motivated Blitzkrieg strategic manoeuvre.
Blitzkrieg is a term used to describe a method of offensive warfare designed to strike a swift, focused blow at an enemy.
Dr Meger believes that this offensive is a tactic for Moscow to gain leverage if and when they decide to approach the negotiating table with the Ukrainian government. In essence, it serves as a mission to terrorise the Ukranian people for political gain.
She disagrees with the theory which presumes that the Kremlin is attempting to commandeer the entire southern border of Ukraine to access Crimea.
“I never really bought into the land bridge theory, and Russia already somewhat dominates the Black Sea,”
“I don’t think [Russia] needs territorial control,” she says.
The establishment of the green corridor, also called a humanitarian corridor, is an essential operation to give the 200,000 remaining Maripolitan people safe passage to Europe if Russian forces continue to attack their city.
The corridors are largely unpoliced and are not an institutionalised feature of the war zones. They are only needed when one or more parties to the conflict are violating the laws of war.
Dr Meger assumes “the Ukrainian government would have been operating the humanitarian corridor and various aid organisations would be allowed to use it to bring in supplies and provide services to citizens.”
The Ukrainian government is struggling to manage the planned evacuations.
“We heard promises that there will be humanitarian corridors, [but] they are not here. Instead we have bloody ones,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on March 8.
Soldiers of the Azov Regiment say they conducted an effective counter offensive operation in the city yesterday and have released a list of the names of Russian soldiers who they warn should “return home” or the “the defenders of Ukriane will find these murders and send them home – in a coffin”.
These words of caution by the Azov Regiment are part of an online offensive from the far-right volunteer infantry military unit. They are actively disseminating similar messaging on their Telegram thread to describe their efforts across several blockaded cities.
In Mariupol, Vladimir Putin’s intentions feel irrelevant for local residents.
“For me it’s better to save people and give it to them, even if Russia asks the president to leave his post, it’s better to go away and save the people,” says Ms Holovchenko.
“I don’t need victory when the whole country will be in ruins. For who will the country be without people, without cities? I don’t need that country, I need people.”
More civilian evacuation attempts are expected today.
Featured Image: Residents of Mariupol trawl through the rubble yesterday, after heavy shelling from Russian militia.
Correction: in one of the mentions of his name, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was incorrectly named as Vladimir Zelensky. 14/03/2022
