Topolyne in the northwest and Hnutove in the northeast have been lost. Mariupol is now under artillery fire from dawn to dusk. Power and communication are failing, so schools have suspended online classes.
The blockade is almost set up. Mariupol defenders are retreating from the suburbs.
The 140th Separate Marine Reconnaissance Battalion is trying to get to the city from the Volnovakha direction.
Мариупольский котел вот-вот начнет закипать
На Украинушке о чем-то стали догадываться, взглянув на карту продвижения ЛНР и ДНР при огневой поддержке ВС РФ на востоке. И призывать тамошний генштаб к принятию быстрого ключевого решения. Но в данной ситуации самым верным будет решение сберечь людей и города-поселки, то есть начать останавливать войну сложением оружия. Иначе да, будет двойной котел - котел в котле. В котором окажется огромная группировка Ярын и Тарасов, которые сегодня палят по людям Донбасса, а завтра будут оправдываться, что они просто медики и электрики, которые хотели подзаработать на контракте.
On February 27-28, we were in Rozivka, close to the ammunition depot. We had five BRDMs [combat reconnaissance and patrol vehicles], so we formed sections of three infantrymen and one Javelin operator, who were hunting down Russian tanks in the Nikolske area. The hunts were successful. When we were ordered to go to Mariupol and join the 36th Marine Brigade, our BRDM crews went on reconnaissance and reported that it was impossible to take the Rozivka-Mariupol highway. It was already under enemy control.
On February 28, we received orders to move toward Zachativka. Local Territorial Defense personnel armed with double-barreled shotguns visited us then. They stayed, and I don't know what became of them. I assume their fate was tragic. The ammunition depots had been blown up, and the munitions continued to detonate for a long time.
Our forces withdrew from Hnutove, northeast of Mariupol, suffering the loss of four tanks, an APC, and an IFV. Russian tanks hit and damaged two T-80BV main battle tanks astern on the village road. The enemy managed to get close due to the mistake of the marine battalion executive officer who mistook them for Ukrainian tanks. Another tank was abandoned ten meters from the road. The vehicles became an attraction for Russian propagandists: almost all the “military correspondents” published photos or videos from there.
photo/video by a representative of the aggressor state
Many people just could not get it together. There was one situation when we were stationed in Hnutove. I was ordered to observe the field but no one had secured the road properly. I said: “Let's position my APC closer to the road so that we can watch it.” They told me: “No, stay in the field, watch over it.”
In the morning, artillery fire preparation began. My group and I were sent to the road to check on the situation there. We saw a group of Russians at a distance of 400 meters who were walking calmly with guns on their chests. A detachment against only three of us. I reported to the commander. He answered: “Okay, keep observing.” His “Okay, keep watching” then became an inside joke, a meme, of our defensive operation. Later, the first patrol vehicle passed by. I reported that an IFV was heading toward the village and asked for permission to take the APC closer. The answer was: “Keep observing.” I saw an BTR APC moving. It was moving slowly as if in a parade. Then I saw three more IFVs with a dismount squad. I requested again for permission to take the APC closer and once again was ordered to keep observing.
We had to blow up the bridge but the fuses were ruined by moisture, and the operation failed. We were ordered to hold out for 15 minutes, we held out for 45, but no reinforcement arrived. It wasn't the company or the battalion commanders' fault, the brass just couldn't get it all together. When there is a mess in all directions, people simply don't have time to make a decision. I'm not throwing stones in anyone's garden, the situation was very difficult back then. The company commander contacted the battalion and they told us: “Hold positions a bit longer.” We were being shot at with high explosive rounds, from the BMP-2 IFV, so we left our positions. I regret following the order, and not making my own decision. Had I repositioned the BTR APC, we would have knocked out at least two IFVs and perhaps would have repelled the attack from that axis. [1]
The enemy advanced through Hnutove but stopped before Sartana, where our forces blew up the road bridge over Kalmius River.
A destroyed bridge in Sartana, photo by a representative of the aggressor state
Video from representatives of the aggressor state
After withdrawal of the 36th Marine Brigade’s units from the Pyshchevyk sector, it became pointless to hold the defense line 7 kilometers east of the city due to the high probability of encirclement.
On February 27, the Mariupol defenders left Sartana and established defensive positions on the city’s eastern and northeastern approaches.
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, my husband was serving in the 501st Separate Marine Battalion, and my son Oleksiy served with Azov … In 2014, we moved to Mariupol from Snizhne and bought a house on the northeastern outskirts of the city, 2.5 kilometers away from Sartana. On the night of February 28, I stepped outside and saw our marines. Young men with blue tape on their uniforms. They told me to wake my neighbors and move into the city, as the enemy had driven them from Sartana and fighting could begin in our area.
My husband was in Zaporizhzhia, and I wasn't able to contact my son. I arranged for a neighbor to drive me into the city and rejoined the marines. I showed them to the attic, where my son and husband had stocked body armor, helmets, sleeping mats, lead-bearing vests, and other equipment. I told them to take whatever they needed. They got dry rations from the basement: my son and husband had been to the Sea Breeze exercises three times, and had brought a stockpile of canned food, which they had kept for such an occasion.
The marines hung back shyly, so I hugged each of them and begged: “Just stay alive.” Suddenly I noticed another one standing next to them – very small, quiet boy. For some reason, I felt ashamed: “Sorry, child, I didn't see you.” I remembered his bewildered, resigned expression and his dirty, battered hands. He lowered his eyes and quietly replied: “Nobody notices me, I'm invisible.” My heart broke. We exchanged phone numbers, and they literally shoved me into the neighbor's car with only one bag, and I left. A few days later, a young man, a commander of these marines, called me and asked for my bank card number. When I asked “What for?” he replied: “We have collected some money. Since we are using your house, we would like to pay for that.” I cried and once again pleaded with them to just survive.
Natalia Kozub with her son, photo from open sources
On February 28, they asked us who wished to volunteer as infantry to move to the combat zone, and thirty-six of us agreed and set off to positions west of the PortCity Shopping and Entertainment Center. There, we realized we would be alone. We had assault rifles, two PKM medium machine guns, two DShK heavy machine guns, and grenade launchers. Our two snipers had SVD sniper rifles. One took up a position on the shopping center roof, the other on the roof of the air-reconnaissance building [there were engineering facilities nearby supporting the airport activities].
We started digging trenches and getting acquainted with our neighbors: there were Azov Regiment deployed with a pair of tanks in PortCity, and National Guard fighters north of us at a checkpoint. We had no direct communication with them. Where necessary, we contacted our unit's communications center, and the latter contacted our neighbors.
General Sodol, the commander of the Group East, ordered us to move to Mariupol to the subordination of the 36th Marine Brigade. A scout advanced to us just at the end of the bridge to Azovstal. As we were moving, sudden gunfire erupted. We realized it was a friendly fire, given that it was happening in the city center. The first tank reported they were under a rocket launcher attack. The platoon commander reported wounded. The tank commander, where I was, was also wounded. There were two more wounded on the MT-LB. I went to the commander of the 36th Brigade at their permanent station. We started to sort the situation out, and it turned out that we had been attacked by the Territorial Defense forces.
video from open sources
We should mention here the means of quick friend-or-foe identification. Ukrainian forces used blue tape to mark infantry, and blue paint on vehicles (1st Azov Battalion also used yellow tape).
Due to the huge volume of material needed for marking, there was a shortage of paint and tape. In the first two days of invasion, there were requests for help shared on Telegram chats of Mariupol residents, and people brought whatever they could to defense centers. Still, there was not enough paint, so some parts of Azov tanks were simply wrapped in blue plastic bags.
Ukrainian APC with blue tactical markings
Oleksandr "Addams" Derevianko – fighter of the 1st Battalion of the Azov Regiment, photo by Azov
When we saw a column of several tanks and anti-aircraft guns accompanied by infantry approaching the first line of defense of the Territorial Defense Division at the intersection of Metallurhiv Avenue and Shevchenko Boulevard, our fighters opened fire. Perhaps there were blue markings on the vehicles but our people might have failed to notice them given the situation. Then someone fired a grenade launcher... When the column, advancingtoward Torhova Street, approached the second line of the Territorial Defense positions at the intersection of Shevchenko Boulevard and Kuindzhi Street, the gunfire resumed. The tank crews refrained from firing but that evening or a day later, when they returned, it seemed to me that they had painted the tank turrets blue almost completely.
video from open sources
On February 28 in the Mariupol sector, a Ukrainian sniper killed Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky, deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army.
Photo by a representative of the aggressor state
! Ukrainian armed forces announced that they have killed maj. gen. Andrey Sukhovetskiy, a Spetsnaz commander and deputy chief of the 41 Army in Novosibirsk. This appears confirmed by a spokesperson of the Russian Paratroopers Union. If confirmed, major demotivator for RU.
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev)March 3, 2022
We knew there would be a war, and we were getting ready for it. From February 22, we were already for combat readiness. On February 24, we began stabilization operations and evacuated documentation and our top officials. We evacuated them on February 25-26, and on February 28, we returned to Mariupol with nearly the entire contingent. Only three-four fighters remained as the leadership security.
Upon our return, we split into two groups. One, group led by our general, moved to Volnovakha to organize the evacuation. The other, group led by the deputy chief of the criminal police department, remained in Mariupol. On the same day, February 28, we captured two traitors and escorted them to Dnipro. Our fighters who went there and stayed overnight could not return to the city. Therefore, there were twelve police officers left: ten from the special-purpose unit and two from the duty unit.
We again split into small groups and focused on preventing looting, searching for traitors, responding to reports of unknown armed individuals, and coordinating civilian evacuations.
Despite the hostilities on the outskirts and shelling of the city, educational institutions maintained remote lessons for a few days. Then the communication and power outages made teaching technically impossible. Mariupol schools officially suspended their educational process on February 28. Students were sent on a week-long break.During the first few days of the invasion I still knew the whereabouts of our teachers and students. And then, until I evacuated, I had no contact with anyone. Sometimes I would meet someone by chance when collecting water or firewood. My family and I had to leave our apartment in the Cheremushki Microdistrict to flee from the endless shelling. We thought we should stay for some time in the city center, where it was relatively quiet. So, we ended up in the basement of my lyceum.
Later, the planes started coming like shuttle buses. Every 15 minutes. They would drop 8-12 bombs. There was not a single undamaged house nearby. Parents with children came to us to get their documents, and I was looking at them and thinking: “Grab your child and take cover!” Hence, you would just be looking out of the window, and there was no sign of what was to come. Then, suddenly an incoming mortar or BM-21 Grad rockets would strike. We saw piles of corpses that no one was gathering.[2]
Dozens of civilians killed and injured as Russia's assault on Ukrainian cities continues
In the port city of Mariupol, where Ukrainians were trying to fend off a Russian advance on Sunday, an ambulance raced into a city hospital carrying a six-year-old girl hit during Russian shelling.
To article →A few days after February 24, we sent a backhoe loader and a van to the military hospital to transport and inter amputated limbs. Imagine the amount. We were also working on converting wards into surgery rooms back then. Health professionals went with us to the supermarket, where we were allowed to take all the necessary things: lighting units, tripods for them, and wiring. Since the clothes of the wounded are often cut off with scissors for quick access to the wounds, we needed something the patients could wear afterward. The Metro hypermarket helped us: they let us take whatever we needed for the hospitals.
It was around 8 a.m. The marine commander left our tanks in reserve. He said that the unit would withdraw from its lines and take up defense around the city. I was to be the last to leave the lines with my tanks. However, the exact destination was yet unknown. At that time, our forces hit some Su plane [it was a Sukhoi Su-25, hit by the Azov fighters over the Skhidnyi Microdistrict].
Російський літак, який обстрілював Сартану та Маріуполь знищено – мер
Українські військові знищили російський літак, який учора обстрілював Сартану та Лівобережний район Маріуполя.
To article →video from TikTok
I was at the staff, when at around 11 a.m., I was informed that Mariupol had been encircled.
– How can it be encircled when I passed through Nikolske at 6 a.m.?
– Nikolske is already controlled by an orc tank battalion.
Минобороны сообщило о завершении блокирования Мариуполя силами ДНР
Военные ДНР завершают блокирование Мариуполя, сообщили в Минобороны. Ранее российские военные взяли Бердянск и Энергодар. По данным ведомства, авиация захватила господство в воздухе над Украиной
To article →Despite the blockade, the small garrison defending Mariupol never thought of laying down their arms. The heroic defense of the besieged city had just begun.
