People in Mariupol, a city of strategic importance in southeastern Ukraine, woke up today to the sound of explosions and some of them started packing to leave after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Mariupol, the main port of eastern Ukraine, was not attacked at the start of the invasion. However, residents fear it could be a target for Russia because of its strategic importance and its short distance, about 10 kilometers, from areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
Despite the explosions heard from its eastern suburbs, some initially tried to continue their daily routine. The Mariupol steel plant – important for Ukrainian exports – has opened, with fishermen taking up positions along the city’s Kalmyus River, with a population of about half a million.
However, it quickly became clear that many stores would not open and some loaded their belongings into cars to leave the city.
“We will hide,” said a middle-aged woman.
“We have a shelter in our house, but I do not know if it is big enough and if it is so safe,” another 17-year-old Julia resident wrote in a Telegram message.
Pro-Russian separatists did not attack Mariupol when they occupied territory in eastern Ukraine during the 2014 conflict.
A possible occupation would now allow Moscow to annex Crimea, which it has annexed, to separatist enclave territories and secure full control of the Sea of ​​Azov, increasing economic pressure on the Ukrainian government.
A 19-year-old girl in Mariupol who asked to be named only as Ira stated that, after the morning explosions, “there is calm at the moment. All communications (by electronic means) are working”.
West of the city, an eyewitness to Reuters saw a cloud of smoke rising in the sky from a fire at a military installation.
A phalanx of armored vehicles of the Ukrainian forces was advancing on a road outside the city. The soldiers in the tanks formed the signal of victory in the passing cars, which responded by hitting their horns.
Down the road, in the cities of Mangos and Berdyansk in the Sea of ​​Azov, cars lined up at gas stations and people lined up at cash registers.
Along the roads of the area one could see rocket launchers of the Ukrainian forces.
Source: Capital
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