Mariupol, the last major city in the east controlled by Kiev, on the shores of the Sea of Azov, is considered strategic. It could be among the most threatened in the event of a Russian offensive. It is located only about twenty kilometers from the front line.
Strategic city, industrial port of the Sea of Azov, Mariupol is located about twenty kilometers from the front line.
Briefly held by the separatists at the start of the war, the city has become more beautiful: the authorities want to make it a showcase against the nearby separatist republics. Ukraine’s richest man, oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, who owns several metallurgical plants there, has announced more than $1 billion in investments for 2022.
At the edge of the Sea of Azov, with a port and fishermen who suffer from the recurring maneuvers of the Russian navy, Mariupol is considered among the cities most threatened in the event of an invasion but, for the moment, this region remains relatively spared from rising tensions, although residents have heard more intense gunfire in recent days. They have been living with war on their doorstep for eight years, so the intensification of heavy weapon fire, further north, does not cause panic.
On Sunday, residents of Mariupol marked the eighth anniversary of the tragic events of the Maidan revolution. The prayer for the dead resounds on the Place de la Liberté. Clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, soldiers, local authorities and ordinary citizens came to pay homage to the dozens of victims of the pro-European revolution in Maidan.
Elisaveta Piskous, now a student, left Donetsk when she was eleven years old: Unfortunately, Ukraine is less strong, but we hope that this time we will manage to resist and that we will not lose more territories, as we lost the Donetsk region and Crimea. And I hope that one day the Donetsk region will again become our territory. »
Traditional scarf around the head, Lioudmila Galbaï, retired and member of the small choir which animated the ceremony, alongside the bishop and priests, does not share this opinion: “ The people of Donestk and Luhansk are already far from us mentally. I don’t know what future we have with these inhabitants. »
The threat of recognition of the separatist territories brandished by Moscow would mark the end of the Minsk process, which is precisely aimed at a return under Ukrainian sovereignty of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass.
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In Vostochny, the trauma of the 2015 bombings
In 2015, this eastern part of the city was bombed. Thirty-two people had been killed and the material damage had been very important.
This Sunday, parents walk their children there, saleswomen wait for the customer, seated in front of their stalls… a calm day around the market in the Vostochny district, 12 km from the front. Anatoli, retired, sunbathes on a bench. “ The other day, it hit so hard that the windows and the walls shook. It comes and goes. We got used to it. But I don’t think there will be an escalation, they’re just trying to scare each other. »
In Vostochny, there are now very few stigmata of the 2015 deadly bombings. If the trauma of the attack is still vivid, the inhabitants do not panic in the face of rising tensions. Anna Androtchuk, a local journalist, did not see any mass exodus from the neighborhood.
“ This district of Vostochny has become accustomed to these echoes. Around 4 a.m., the sound of the shelling wakes me up, I listen and go back to sleep. I didn’t prepare an “emergency bag”, I just picked up my identity papers and that was it. People don’t know what to expect, what to do… but panicking is definitely not a solution. “No panic, but a hope: to find the life of eight years ago, without threat at the gates of the city.
►Also listen: Great report – Mariupol dreams of showcase Donbass