\n Throughout the spring of 2022 one city represented the horrific suffering and catastrophic destruction caused by the war in Ukraine: Mariupol.\n<\/p>\n
\n Large parts of the city on the Sea of Azov were razed to the ground during a brutal three-month siege.\n<\/p>\n
\n Following is a short summary of the battle:\n<\/p>\n
\n - Blockade -\n<\/p>\n
\n From the start of the war on February 24, 2022, Mariupol comes under constant shelling, forcing residents to take cover in basements.\n<\/p>\n
\n The attacks knock out power and water supplies and prevent residents from burying their dead.\n<\/p>\n
\n Within a week Russian forces and pro-Russian fighters in the surrounding Donbas region have surrounded the city.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Maternity ward bombed -\n<\/p>\n
\n On March 9, a Russian airstrike on a maternity ward and paediatric hospital leaves five people dead, including a heavily pregnant woman who is photographed being stretchered to safety. She died shortly after.\n<\/p>\n
\n The images cause global outrage.\n<\/p>\n
\n Russia claims that the building was shielding members of Ukraine's Azov battalion.\n<\/p>\n
\n - First evacuations -\n<\/p>\n
\n After several failed evacuation attempts, a first convoy of 160 cars leaves through a humanitarian corridor on March 14.\n<\/p>\n
\n Around 20,000 people manage to leave over the course of two days but hundreds of thousands remained trapped.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Theatre bombed -\n<\/p>\n
\n On March 16, a theatre sheltering hundreds of people in the centre of Mariupol, mostly women and children, is bombed.\n<\/p>\n
\n At the time local authorities said some 300 people had died. In a report in June 2022, Amnesty International says it believed \"at least a dozen people\" were killed and \"likely many more\" in what it called a \"clear war crime\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Russia denies responsibility.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Last stand -\n<\/p>\n
\n On April 4, Mariupol's mayor says 90 percent of the city has been destroyed. The streets are strewn with bodies.\n<\/p>\n
\n According to the Ukrainian government at least 20,000 people have been killed.\n<\/p>\n
\n A week later, Ukrainian troops say they are preparing for a \"last battle\" at the sprawling Azovstal steelworks.\n<\/p>\n
\n Over the following week, Russia issues a string of ultimatums to the troops holed up in the plant to give themselves up but they refuse.\n<\/p>\n
\n On April 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaims the \"liberation\" of Mariupol and orders his troops to besiege Azovstal.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Surrender -\n<\/p>\n
\n In early May, hundreds of women, children and the elderly sheltering in the plant are evacuated.\n<\/p>\n
\n On May 17, Ukraine announces that more than 260 of its soldiers, some seriously wounded, have surrendered.\n<\/p>\n
\n Over the next four days, the rest follow.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praises the troops as \"heroes\" and says the priority now is to save their lives.\n<\/p>\n
\n On May 20, the Russian army announces that the last of 2,439 troops have surrendered. They are taken to prisons in the Donetsk region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Throughout the spring of 2022 one city represented the horrific suffering and catastrophic destruction caused by the war in Ukraine: Mariupol. Large parts of the city on the Sea of Azov were razed to the ground during a brutal three-month siege. Following is a short summary of the battle: - Blockade - From the start […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-117019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n