After weeks of hard fighting, the Russians managed to drive a wedge between the remaining defenders of the city yesterday. The Ukrainians, according to the latest data from the American research institute ISW only the port in the southwest of the city, the Azov steelworks in the eastern part and a steelworks to the north of the city remain.
According to pro-Russian separatists, the port is now also in Russian hands, but the mayor is fighting that.
What is certain is that the city that had more than 400,000 inhabitants before the war has been largely destroyed.
Artillery doctors
“The Russian army is an artillery army,” said Major General of the Marines Frank van Kappen. “In a nutshell: you first flatten everything with artillery and cruise missiles, without paying too much attention to civilian casualties. And once it’s been shot down, you go in with the infantry and clear up the last bits.”
The latter is not easy. “The defenders will booby-trap everything they can. If you enter a ruined house to entrench yourself and you pull open a door or a closet, an explosive goes off. Everywhere you walk there are tripwires strung with a pin of a hand grenade. If you don’t pay attention, the hand grenade will go off. So the attacking units have to be incredibly careful.”
In addition, a large part of the Russian army is not very motivated, says Van Kappen. As an adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, he had to deal with Russian blue helmets. He saw them monetizing UN food and fuel on the black market. “Then you only have one thing in mind as a conscripted soldier. How do I survive my military service? That is not what you call a motivation to fight”
But the disadvantage that Mariupol’s defenders now have is that they have completely run out of supplies, says Van Kappen. “You’re running out of ammunition, you’re running out of food, you’re running out of water, you’re running out of fuel. You can’t last that, of course.”
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