Battle of Mariupol (May–June 2014)

Coordinates: 47°5′45″N 37°32′58″E / 47.09583°N 37.54944°E / 47.09583; 37.54944
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Battle of Mariupol (2014)
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Battle of Mariupol
Part of the
war in Donbas

Damage in Mariupol
Date6 May – 14 June 2014
(1 month, 1 week and 1 day)
Location
Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
Result

Government victory[1]

  • Ukrainian forces regain complete control of Mariupol
  • Mariupol becomes the
    provisional capital of Donetsk Oblast
Belligerents
 Ukraine  Donetsk People's Republic
Commanders and leaders
Arsen Avakov
Serhiy Demydenko †
Valery Androshchuk (POW
)		 Denis Kuzmenko (POW)
Igor Khakimzyanov (POW)
Units involved

Armed Forces of Ukraine

Ministry of Internal Affairs

Donbas People's Militia

Defected policemen[9][10]
Strength
400 60
Casualties and losses
20 killed
49 wounded[11][12][13][14]
1 captured[15]
3 APCs destroyed[16][17]		 20–26 killed[12][18][19]
15–34 captured[8][20][21]
1 BRDM-2 destroyed[13][22]

During the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, the city of Mariupol, in Donetsk Oblast, saw skirmishes break out between Ukrainian government forces, local police, and separatist militants affiliated with the Donetsk People's Republic. Government forces withdrew from Mariupol on 9 May 2014 after heavy fighting left the city's police headquarters gutted by fire. These forces maintained checkpoints outside the city. Intervention by Metinvest steelworkers on 15 May 2014 led to the removal of barricades from the city centre, and the resumption of patrols by local police. Separatists continued to operate a headquarters in another part of the city until their positions were overrun in a government offensive on 13 June 2014.

Background

Mariupol City Hall, damaged by a fire during clashes in May 2014
Main articles:
War in Donbas (2014–2022) and 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine

Mariupol is the second-largest city in Donetsk Oblast, and had experienced sporadic unrest since March 2014. Pro-Russian and anti-government groups first occupied the city council building on 18 March 2014.

Arsen Avakov said that troops were forced to open fire, resulting in the killing of three of the attackers.[24]

Ukrainian government forces claimed they "liberated" the Mariupol city council on 24 April 2014, though this was heavily disputed by anti-government demonstrators, and a BBC report said that there was "no sign" of the army.[25][26] The building changed hands multiple times thereafter, but was captured by the army on 8 May.[27][28]

Events

A violent clash involving armoured personnel carriers (APC) took place at the Mariupol police headquarters on Victory Day, 9 May 2014. The Ukrainian government said it sent in the APCs in response to an attempt by militant separatists to storm the building.[15] According to the Internal Affairs Ministry, the assault on the station involved 60 separatists armed with automatic weapons.[15] Valeriy Androshchuk, the newly appointed chief of the Mariupol police, was taken captive and tortured by the separatists.[29] Some local policemen reportedly helped the militants during the takeover and later clashed with Internal Troops who fired on the building with heavy machine guns mounted on the APCs.[9][30]

The police headquarters in Mariupol, destroyed in the fighting of May 2014

The Ukrainian government said its contingent included police, as well as an Omega unit of the

Arsen Avakov, a separatist sniper fired at Ukrainian soldiers and civilians from the upper floors of a hospital.[11] Avakov said that the counterattack resulted in the deaths of twenty separatists, and the capture of four, while the rest dispersed.[15][32] He referred to the separatist militants as "terrorists", and warned that "annihilation" would be Ukraine's answer to future acts of terrorism.[32]

Avakov's account of what happened was contested by some Mariupol residents, who spoke to reporters from The New York Times, the BBC, and The Independent shortly after the incident.[10][31][32] The residents (many of whom showed their Ukrainian passports to prove they were not from Russia[32]) said that the government had attacked local police who were sympathetic to protesters.[10][31][32] One version of events, put forward by a group of residents cited by The New York Times, was that the clash was sparked by Mariupol police rebelling against a new police chief sent by the interim government in Kyiv.[10] The BBC report included a video showing pro-Russian activists trying unsuccessfully to stop armoured vehicles from moving into the city.[31]

Burnt-out office of PrivatBank in Mariupol. The building was set on fire on 4 May 2014.

After the fighting the Ukrainian forces withdrew from the city, leaving it fully under control of pro-Russian protesters. The military retained control over checkpoints surrounding the city.[33] The Ukrainian government said that its forces withdrew "to avoid further aggravation".[34] The troops moving out of the city shot at unarmed civilians, according to The Guardian.[35][36][37] Anna Neistat from Human Rights Watch stated "my preliminary findings suggest that Ukrainian units might indeed have used excessive force near the drama theater, which resulted in deaths and injuries of some unarmed people" and urged a full, thorough investigation.[38]

Video of a captured APC in Mariupol

One armoured personnel carrier was captured by pro-Russian protesters. After the clashes, the protesters built barricades on roads in the city centre.

DPR's referendum on self-rule. The low number of polling places caused queues hundreds of metres long.[42]

Intervention of Metinvest steelworkers

Ukrainian government to refrain from sending its forces to the city and to start negotiations with the insurgents.[42][43][44]

Civilians gather next to a deployment of soldiers.

An agreement initiated by Metinvest was signed on 15 May by steel plant directors, police and community leaders, and a representative of the Donetsk People's Republic separatists.

Radio Free Europe reported on 17 May that separatist militants (unarmed, but some wearing balaclavas) were patrolling Mariupol alongside police.[50] On 19 May 2014, CNN reporters found DPR supporters, including armed militia, running their headquarters in a suburb of Mariupol.[51] The leader of the group, Denis Kuzmenko, told the reporters he welcomed the role of the steelworkers in the city.[51]

Government recapture of Mariupol

On the morning of 13 June 2014, heavy fighting resumed as part of military operations in Mariupol, in which the

Dnipro-1 Battalions retook the city and key buildings occupied by insurgents, killing five militants and destroying an insurgent BRDM-2 armoured vehicle.[22][52][53] Two soldiers were also killed[12] and 4–11 separatists were captured.[20][21] A military armoured personnel carrier was destroyed during the fighting.[17] Internal Affairs minister Avakov said "All key terrorist strongholds are being brought under control".[54]

As a result of the six-hour battle, Ukrainian forces hoisted the national flag over the insurgent headquarters in the city and said they had regained control of a 121-kilometre (75 mi) stretch of the border with Russia.[54][55] Immediately following the operation, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko instructed the chief of the Donetsk regional state administration Serhiy Taruta to temporarily move the regional capital to Mariupol.[54] A minor incident occurred the next morning, when a convoy of border guardsmen was attacked by insurgents whilst passing Mariupol, leaving five guardsmen dead and seven wounded.[14]

OSCE monitors visited Mariupol to assess the situation in the city on 18 August.

ongoing war in the Donbas region at the time that the monitors visited the city. Unofficial statistics cited by the OSCE gave the number of refugees in Mariupol as 20,000.[56]

Casualties

There were conflicting reports regarding the number and identity of the dead with regard to the 9 May 2014 incident. Internal Affairs minister

Arsen Avakov stated that the operation resulted in the death of one policeman, and about twenty people described as "terrorists".[18] Four militants were captured and five policemen were wounded.[8] The Daily Telegraph reported that some locals thought that most of the between five and twenty people killed were innocent civilians.[57]
City traffic police chief Viktor Sayenko was killed in the fighting on 9 May.
Dnipro Battalion, Serhiy Demydenko, who was killed by sniper fire.[11] Citing eyewitnesses, Mariupol internet publication 0629 reported that "terrorists took Demidenko's dead body and cut his ears off and gouged his eyes."[15] Eight soldiers were also wounded in the fighting.[11]

The Mariupol city administration declared 10 May 2014 as a day of mourning in honour of those killed in the 9 May incident.

Azov Battalion member who was killed in the fighting.[3]

A further violent death was reported on 25 May, when the Ukrainian government said its special police had killed a bodyguard of Mariupol DPR leader Denis Kuzmenko, while arresting Kuzmenko himself.[19] Five separatists and two soldiers were killed during the takeover of the city by the military on 13 June 2014.[12] Five border guards were killed and seven wounded in an ambush attack on a military convoy on 14 June 2014.[14]

A report by Human Rights Watch said that the Ukrainian military may have used excessive force during the battle of Mariupol.[63]

In January 2015,

Azov Battalion.[30]

Legacy

Several months following this battle, a second battle broke out in the city as pro-Russian separatists again tried to break into the city, but also failed.[64] Ukrainian control in the city would remain until the Siege of Mariupol in May 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[65]

Anniversary celebrations

On 13 June 2015, a monument to the defenders of the Military Unit No. 3057 was unveiled in the city on the first anniversary of the battle.[66] A documentary film on the Public TV of Azov called Year of Freedom. Mariupol After DNR was released in 2015.[67] Mariupol Liberation Day from Russian Occupation (Ukrainian: День звільнення Маріуполя від проросійських терористів) was celebrated annually on 13 June, being an official holiday in the city. It was first celebrated at the state level in 2016 (the second anniversary). On this day, the Azov Regiment held an organized military parade at 10:00 am.

On Liberation Day 2019, the traditional

Volodymyr Zelensky paid an official visit to the city, attending joint military exercises and the opening of a demining center.[70] Gala concerts were also held throughout the city.[71][72]

See also

  • Offensive on Mariupol (September 2014)
  • Offensive on Mariupol (January 2015)

References

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  2. ^ "Первая победа на востоке Украины. Опыт героической обороны мариупольской в/ч 3057". Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
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  4. ^ 9 травня 2014 року відстояли Маріуполь Archived 14 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Офіційна інформація про вибух біля блокпосту по вул. Таганрозькій (доповнено) Archived 2017-11-12 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Теракт неподалік Маріуполя — на блокпосту вибухнув автомобьіль
  7. ^ На блокпосту під Маріуполем загинули двоє національних гвардійців, — РНБОУ (відео, оновлено)
  8. ^ a b c Walker, Shaun and Grytsenko, Oksana (9 May 2014) Ukraine crisis: 'three people killed' in fighting at Mariupol police station. The Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
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  57. ^ Blair, David. "Seven Ukrainian soldiers killed in ambush". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
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  65. ^ "Battle ongoing near Mariupol – mayor". Ukrinform. 25 February 2022. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
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  67. ^ Рік визволення. Маріуполь після ДНР (Year of liberation. Mariupol after the DNR) Archived 15 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine / The year of Freedom. Mariupol after DNR [English subs] — документальний фільм
  68. ^ "Военный парад, турнир и концерт: как Мариуполь отметит 5-летие освобождения" [Military parade, tournament and concert: how Mariupol will celebrate the 5th anniversary of liberation]. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  69. ^ "Годовщина освобождения Мариуполя: как 5 лет назад силы АТО прогнали врага из города" [Anniversary of the liberation of Mariupol: how 5 years ago the anti-terrorist operation forces drove the enemy out of the city].
  70. ^ "Zelenskiy Visits Mariupol As City Celebrates Fifth Anniversary Of 'Liberation'". www.rferl.org.
  71. ^ "Мариуполь отметит 5-летие освобождения военным парадом и концертом ТНМК и Tayanna" [Mariupol will mark the 5th anniversary of the liberation with a military parade and a concert by TNMK and Tayanna].
  72. ^ "В Мариуполе начался праздничный уикенд, посвященный 5-летию освобождения города от оккупантов" [A festive weekend dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the liberation of the city from the occupiers has started in Mariupol]. YouTube.

47°5′45″N 37°32′58″E / 47.09583°N 37.54944°E / 47.09583; 37.54944

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