Photo provided by the Mariupol City Council
Photo by the City of Mariupol website
Photo by the City of Mariupol website
Photo by the City of Mariupol website
Photo by the City of Mariupol website
Photo by the City of Mariupol website
The Russians smash the defense line near the village of Anadol just south of Volnovakha. Now they are advancing on Mariupol from the east, west, and north simultaneously.
On February 26, the Mariupol defense headquarters realized that the city would have to be under a full encirclement.
In the morning, Colonel Prokopenko recorded a video message: “The Azov Regiment, together with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, and other defense and law enforcement agencies, is prudently defending the city of Mariupol. We will fight to the last drop of blood. We are not afraid of enemy tanks, missile strikes, or enemy aircraft. I order every fighter of the Azov Regiment to go down fighting. We will eliminate the Russians in the air, on the ground, and on the water. Together to victory. Glory to Ukraine!”
video by Azov
Artillery barrages are still pounding the city and surrounding villages. Sartana has already been hit twice.
Photo provided by the Mariupol City Council
Photo by the City of Mariupol website
Photo by the City of Mariupol website
Photo by the City of Mariupol website
Photo by the City of Mariupol website
Photo by the City of Mariupol website
Under fire, marines withdrew from Pavlopil and Pyshchevyk to the village of Hnutove, about 10 kilometers from Mariupol. However, the breakthrough of the defense line near Anadol, south of Volnovakha, had much worse consequences for the garrison.
Маріуполь беруть у кліщі. Місто готується до оборони
Цілий день надходять повідомлення про просування військової техніки РФ до Маріуполя. Офіційної інформації поки що немає, але за оперативними даними, бої за місто вже почалися.
To article →At that moment the fighting for Volnovakha was already brutal. We still controlled the Volnovakha-Mariupol highway, stayed on standby for enemy contact, and kept a secure line open to the southern checkpoints around Volnovakha . Our troops were holding their positions, yet we realized they could be cut off and forced to fall back toward us. That is why we did not blow up that bridge 18 km from Mariupol. Then word came: the enemy had broken through our defenses in Anadol, where we had only one company combat team covering a five-kilometer section of the frontline. The main forces of the 150th Motor Rifle Division were breaking through there. Unfortunately, our plan to blow up the bridge failed, so we were ordered to try again. The engineering team started placing mines but then enemy infantry approached the bridge, so our forces became engaged in a fight. We got into pickup trucks and retreated to Mariupol.
We were facing an interesting situation. A column of enemy vehicles, which included BMP IFVs, went around the bridge through Kremenivka, that is, to our rear. The Russians were moving at such high speed that our group met them at the point where the road from Kremenivka joined the Donetsk-Mariupol highway. Our fighters reacted instantly and opened heavy fire with grenade launchers, assault rifles, and machine guns from the L200... They were shooting at close range. The Russians lost courage, and we managed to break through. As we pulled back, our D-20 howitzers laid covering fire.
Having raised the drone the next morning, we spotted four BMP-3 IFVs in a field near the highway, by the steelworker's statue at the city entrance. We could not use the drone again due to the strong wind. So, with a couple of tanks, an BTR APC, and two infantry groups on Mitsubishi L-200 pickups, I set off. There, we found abandoned vehicles and the corpse of their commander. I presume that the Russians abandoned everything following the unexpected battle on the highway and our artillery fire. All four BMP-3 IFVs had been disabled – partly by our shelling, partly by their own crews. So, we took whatever we could: machine guns, grenade launchers, small arms, and ammunition.
“Kirt” near Russian IFVs abandoned by their crews
In an interview with Forbes Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR), called the breach of the front at Anadol near Volnovakha one of the biggest military defeats of Ukraine since 2014:
“I will express my personal opinion. The first and biggest one was the temporary defeat of Ukraine near Sievierodonetsk. The second was in the first phase of the war, when the line was broken near Volnovakha. The third, in the bigger picture, was the temporary occupation of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in 2014. These are our three greatest defeats.” [1]
photo by Azov
photo by Azov
On the evening of February 24, we were ordered to leave the airport due to the threat of airstrikes, so, with two tanks, we moved to a predefined position within the city. It was a former brick factory. From there we drove onto a high hill, from where we could control the airport, the highway from Berdyansk to Mariupol, and the turn from this highway to the airport. The distance to the Berdyansk highway was 1.5 kilometers. From the very beginning, we were shelled by BM-21 Grad MLRS systems, tube artillery, and mortars. February 26 was foggy, and the Russians tried to enter the city using the fog as concealment. The first column consisted of tanks. We beat them back, with help from our artillery. [2]
video from open sources
There was a huge storage facility in Rozivka with ammunition to be used in case of war. However, we had a logistics problem. Each shell had been loaded manually, so they were poorly stacked. Fortunately, our artillerymen were accompanied by a special-operations sniper team when going to Rozivka. It was a sound decision, as they encountered the enemy's vanguard unit on their way. That was the last shipment of ammunition brought to Mariupol. Still, the amount was insufficient: four loaded KrAZ trucks, enough for half an hour of fighting. There were no such warehouses in Mariupol. [3]
The demarcation line of our eastern Sector ‘D’ Kalynivka, Sartana, Talakivka, Hnutove, and Pavlopil. I was on the right flank. Our company adjoined the 3rd company along May 9th Street. Everything eastward, up to the sea, was the responsibility of the 1st company. Kalynivka, Sartana, – i.e., the northern sector – were assigned to 3rd company’s. The battalion's special-purpose reconnaissance platoon under the command of Lieutenant Stanislav “Metro” Partala supported us. They helped us build defense structures and went to support the marines, took part in battles in Pavlopil, Hnutove, and Talakivka, destroyed enemy vehicles, and set up ambushes.
At the National Guard garrison we received body armor and kevlar helmets, and on February 26, I was at the intersection of Myru and Metallurhiv avenues in the city center with a group of about thirty Territorial Defense fighters. Mariupol residents came to us, brought chocolates, food, and phone cards, and asked us to hold on. One guy even brought a whole stock pot of borscht. We had to ladle out the borscht under a christmas tree as we had been ordered to eat only shrink-wrapped food.
At night, we stopped curfew-breakers and checked their documents and phones. Among them, we detained a man with photos of military facilities on his phone, and one forward observer – there was correspondence with the handler on his phone. They were detained and handed over to the patrol. Someone was marking the walls of buildings and light posts and creating a network of signs for the enemy. We went around painting these over.
In the early days, we had to put a lot of effort on removing the markings from walls. Usually, it was a cross or a geometric sprayed on walls, roofs, or roads. We regularly checked the buildings, and the authorized people went onto the roofs to cover the markings with pieces of metal or encase them in concrete. Once, such a marking (a trident) appeared on the facade of a house near the intersection of Kuindzhi and Metropolytska streets. It glowed in the dark. We could not cover up such paint, so we decided to cut the mark out with an axe. Later, the markings began daubing trees. In hindsight, I realize this was meant to distract our attention and resources. Back then, by removing another marking, we thought we were saving the house from a missile hit.
Cutting off a mark, February 2022. Photo provided by the Mariupol City Council
The shelling intensified, and the shortage of bomb shelters became apparent. Basements in most residential buildings proved unsuitable for use as shelters. City enterprises began converting their facilities into shelters.
Russia invades Ukraine: Shocked civilians hide in fear but are defiant as explosions boom and Russian rockets rain down on the coastal city of Mariupol
Alex Rossi reports from inside Mariupol in Ukraine as the sound of explosions reverberate across the city as its adults and children are forced to shelter in their basements, traumatised by a conflict they did not start or want.
To article →We started stocking up on provisions. Markets and shops were still open back then, we could withdraw cash from ATMs… That same day, I first heard the sounds of gunfire in the city, and missile strikes in particular. Later, we learned to distinguish the sounds of guns discharging from the sounds of hits, although they seemed the same at first. I was coming from the market, and when I had almost arrived home, I heard the roar of an airplane. This sound is the scariest one. You can hear the whistle of an artillery round, which is also scary. But not scary like a plane, as aerial bombs cause much more damage. I crouched down, hid, and then heard an explosion about 1-2 kilometers from my house. Later, I heard ambulances and fire engines driving in that direction. There was smoke. On February 26, the electricity went out, then it was for a few hours, and finally, it went out again. That meant the first damage done to infrastructure facilities. [4]
Обстріляне передмістя і півсотні поранених: мер Маріуполя про ситуацію в місті
Ситуація у Маріуполі та в околицях залишається складною, однак українські військові гідно тримають оборону. Із таким відеозверненням вдень 26 лютого виступив міський голова Маріуполя Вадим Бойченко.
To article →Глава ДНР заявил, что ВСУ "взяли в заложники" жителей Мариуполя
Глава ДНР Пушилин: украинские военнослужащие не выпускают из Мариуполя мирных жителей
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