Evacuating the Azovstal Steel Works, Occupying Mariupol

"There are no commanders of the highest level [among those who surrendered] -- they have not left [the bowels of the Azovstal steelworks]."

"That is-- so far."

Denis Pushilin, head, Donetsk People's Republic

 

"Today, the entire Mariupol is under the control of the Russian army, the people's militia of the Donetsk People's Republic, and the territory of the Azovstal plant with the remnants of nationalists and foreign mercenaries located [there] is securely blocked."

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu 

"Despite Russian forces having encircled Mariupol for over ten weeks, staunch Ukrainian resistance delayed Russia’s ability to gain full control over the city,"

"This frustrated its early attempts to capture a key city and inflicted costly personnel losses amongst Russian forces."

U.K. Defense Ministry

A view shows a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 15, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

"The combat mission in Mariupol has ended."

"We have long talked about the significance of Mariupol as a major economic port on the Sea of Azov and also geographically relevant to the fighting in the east, sort of at the southern end of near where the Donbas region cuts across the extreme East of Ukraine."  

"And we have long talked about the fact that we believe the Russians were going to try to encircle Ukrainian troops that are in the Donbas region and in the east, and to be able to free up forces to do that from the south meant Mariupol was important to them."

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby 

A wounded Ukrainian service member from the besieged Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol removed from a bus on a stretcher after being taken under escort of pro-Russian forces to the town of Novoazovsk, Ukraine, May 16, 2022. ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO/REUTERS

 

Mariupol, or more to the point, the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works have fallen to Russian occupation. The Ukrainian defenders of the city through their resistance to the full Russian occupation of the port city, giving them full direct access to the Sea of Azov and control of the Black Sea, managed through courage, determination and hard-fought stubbornness, to see to it that the Russian military deployed troops they could have used elsewhere, thus deterring Moscow's plans for a swift takeover of the key portions of the country.

This has given the government of Ukraine and its military precious time to deploy their own resistance and no doubt added to the defence capabilities that forced Russian troops to surrender their aspiration to take Kyiv and remove the government in power. "They did not allow the enemy to transfer groups of up to 17 battalion tactical groups -- about 20,000 personnel -- to other areas", stated a Ukrainian army spokesman with pride. The planned encirclement of the Donbas was another casualty of the Russian military thanks to the Azovstal standoff.

As a symbol of Ukrainian resistance and defence against an enemy determined to destroy it, the Mariupol siege and its struggle to overcome all obstacles to full occupation was a matter of national pride and a morale-enhancing episode in the chapter of courage under fire that will join the annals of other sieges that failed to fall to an enemy barrage over an extended period of conflict. The Azovstal situation, according to Ukrainian officials, represents an 'evacuation', not a surrender.

Vladimir Putin, in addressing the situation of Russian losses against Ukrainian fortitude and defiance ordered  "Seal it off so that not even a fly comes through" in recognizing the defenders' position making the constant, continuous assault 'pointless'. Now, Mariupol has fallen completely, and Russia can 'occupy' fully a city they have completely destroyed. The goal of a land corridor from the Russian mainland to Crimea has been achieved.

 

Ukrainian service members ride on top of an armored vehicle amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, May 16, 2022. RICARDO MORAES/REUTERS

 

But the war is not over and what seems on the surface a secure 'win' may not have a lasting impact on Mr. Putin's aspirations. He may have possession of the port city, what is left of it, but his war has not and is not proceeding well for him. Apart from the rank-and-file having surrendered and been led away to an unknown fate despite Russian assurances that they will be treated under international conventions for prisoners-of-war, the conduct of the Russian military up to this point in the conflict has been anything but reassuring.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's heroic resistance fighters are viewed as "Nazi criminals" by the Kremlin which can cite their ideological criminality as just cause for severe 'punishment'. Western onlookers have reached varying conclusions; that a conflict "stalemate" exists, that a war of attrition will carry on for years to come. What does seem obvious is that the Donbas offensive has not gone in Russia's favour. A Ukrainian counter-offensive threatens the Russian supply lines.

Russian analyst Mikhail Khodarenok issued a surprise warning on state television that Ukraine has the potential to mobilize up to a million recruits to continue opposing Russian belligerence against a Ukraine that has turned out to be Russia's worst nightmare. Khodarenok deplores the position that his president has placed his country in, as an international pariah and his analysis of the military situation should give Vladimir Putin the night sweats.

Ukrainian troops stand at the Ukraine-Russia border in what was said to be the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, in a screengrab obtained from a video released on May 15, 2022 by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Ukrainian Ministry of Defense/handout/Reuters