Why Mariupol is important to Russia in the Ukrainian war
Mariupol has been a major battleground as Moscow seeks to reverse its 2014 defeat, when Russian-backed separatists failed to occupy the city in the Donetsk region. An insight into why Mariupol holds the key to Russia’s offensive.
Russia’s offensive against Mariupol has turned the city into “ash from dead land,” city council said on Tuesday, describing the growing bombings and shootings since Ukraine rejected the Kremlin’s proposal to lay down its arms and surrender.
Mariupol has been a major battleground as Moscow seeks to reverse its 2014 defeat, when Russian-backed separatists failed to occupy the city in the Donetsk region. We explain why Mariupol holds the key to Russia’s offensive.
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Why is Mariupol Important to Moscow?
Geographically, Mariupol forms a land bridge between Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, and Dobasa, a separatist-controlled region of Ukraine. The Azov Sea is currently located between the Donetsk-Luhansk region and the Crimea.
In 2014, only 100 km from separatist-controlled areas, rebel forces tried to occupy the city. However, Ukrainian forces in the region recovered. At the time, President Petro Poroshenko declared Mariupol the regional capital of the region after Donetsk fell into rebel forces.
In 2016, it also became a ‘city of solidarity’, named by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which receives internally displaced persons from disputed areas.
The benefits of the sea, an economic blow
The occupation of Mariupol gives Russia not only land but also sea advantages. With the fall of Kherson, Russia has already expanded its control over the Black Sea coast, most of which has been dominated by Moscow since the capture of Crimea.
Russian troops have also launched attacks on Mykolaiv and Odessa, cities on the Black Sea. However, Ukrainian troops have so far been able to resist its progress.
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To the east, much of the coastline along the Sea of Azov is also in Russian territory, with the exception of Mariupol, where one of Ukraine’s largest ports is located. Melitopol and Berdyansk were taken over by Russian forces just days after the invasion, reports The Guardian.
If Mariupol falls, Russia will control the entire coast of the Sea of Azov and much of the Black Sea, disrupting Ukraine’s maritime trade.
In 2014, it had lost a third of its Black Sea coastline, access to the Kerch Strait and five seaports.
After the annexation, cargo handling in Mariupol and Berdyansk has fallen by almost 70% and 50%, respectively, according to The Financial Times. This cost ports $ 400 million, exacerbated by Russia’s opening of the Kerch Strait Bridge in 2018. The bridge can only provide access to smaller vessels with a maximum height of 35 meters. And with the increase in inspections by the Russian authorities, Ukrainian ships have been forced to wait almost five hours for them to pass.
However, Mariupol still accounts for a fifth of Ukraine’s ferrous metal exports. Together with Berdyansk, it also accounts for 5 percent of grain exports, according to Bloomberg.
It also houses two of the largest iron and steel plants in Europe, Azovstal and Ilyich. It is reported that the Russian shooting caused damage to Azovstal.
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Thus, Moscow’s control over Mariupol will have a significant impact on Ukraine’s maritime trade and metal production.
In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Novorossiya (New Russia) in a statement with journalists. Novorossiysia is a historical designation of the territories considered to be part of Russia during the tsar’s reign and which included large parts of the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine, such as Odessa, Kharkiv, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk.
“The region’s history as part of Russia obliged Moscow to protect its current population,” Putin quoted Reuters as saying.
In fact, Mariupol’s control will be closer to Putin’s imagined Novorossiya.
A much needed victory
Finally, as the battlefield in northern Ukraine is “mostly static”, according to the latest information from the British military intelligence service, the victory in Mariupol will be a significant boost to the morale of Russian forces.
The UK’s defense ministry said on Wednesday that “Russian forces are trying to take over Ukrainian forces in the east of the country as they move north from Kharkov and south of Mariupol.”
It came just days after U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called the Russian invasion a “failure.” “Russia, launching an unprovoked attack on Ukraine, planned to achieve three main goals: first, to subjugate Ukraine; secondly, to increase Russia’s power and prestige; and third, to divide and weaken the West. Russia has clearly not achieved all three goals so far. In fact, it has done the opposite so far, ”said Sullivan.
Why Mariupol is important to Russia in the Ukrainian war
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News East India staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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