How Ukraine Endured 80 Days Under Siege: The Battle for Mariupol | Battle Board

this is the siege of marup Pole where thousands of Ukrainian Defenders held out against 20,000 Russians for 80 Days despite being totally surrounded but before we get into the battle let's take a look at the Russian plan the Deno river which separates East from West is here the Russian border is here and these are the areas Russia already occupied marup is here just outside the Russian controlled zone why well because during the 2014 War Ukraine's Azar Brigade successfully stopped the Russians from taking it this infuriated Putin who was hoping to create a land bridge between

occupied donbass and Crimea down here which he had also seized for that reason when fighting resumes in 2022 marupa and the Azo Brigade are among Russia's first Targets this is the battle that set the tone for the war in Ukraine the battle that saw daring helicopter rescue missions and men holding out against all the odds this is the battle for marup and this is Battle Board heavy shelling begins as soon as Putin gives the order to invade and Russian troops start advancing on the city from occupied areas of donet at the same time more troops

begin advancing Overland from Crimea and ships land thousands of Marines and armored vehicles somewhere in this area these forces capture the nearby Port City of berdiansk allowing even more reinforcements to be brought in before moving to encircle the city from the West Ukrainian troop moved to defend the towns around marup they put up tough resistance but really they're just stalling for time while their comrades prepare defenses inside the city after a week of fighting in the surrounding towns these troops withdraw to defensive positions in the outskirts of marup the Russians quickly surround the city a

Ukrainian attempt to break the blockade almost ends in disaster and has to be abandoned mariole and the troops inside it are now totally cut off The Siege has begun this is marup an industrial city in the south of Ukraine that was once home to half a million people the Sea of azov is here and right on the coast is the azov sty steel Works organizing the defense of the city are the azov Brigade around 1,500 battle hardened men they are backed by t64 tanks and armored vehicles and are spread out across industrial sites in the

Western and Northern outskirts in the north and east are around the same number of men from the 36th Marine Brigade and in the East are around a thousand men of the first separate Marine Battalion these two brigades are also equipped with old Soviet tanks and BMP fighting Vehicles mixed in with these three large units are a number of smaller formations ranging in size between between a few hundred and a few dozen men armed with rifles and other Light Equipment surrounding them from the East is a huge Force led by 4,000 men from the denet People's

Republic a Russian back government set up in the occupied Ukraine in 2014 these are backed by 10,000 men from Russia's 1050th separate motor rifle Division coming in from the West are roughly 4,000 met of the 810th Guard Marine infantry 177th Army Marine regiment and 19th motorized rifle Battalion based out of Crimea these units wield large numbers of t72 tanks and BMP fighting vehicles and are backed by artillery guns rocket artillery Air Forces and navy gunships firing from offshore The Siege begins with an intense artillery bombardment targeting key infrastructure like power stations and Water Supplies this

makes life difficult for the Defenders and complicates their situation because thousands of civilians still inside the city will now turn to them for help this is exactly what happens with many people fleeing to the AZ of Stow plant and asking to be kept safe in the network of tunnels underneath it civilians also seek shelter in public buildings like the Maru pole drama theater anywhere with basements where they can protect themselves from the shells to alleviate this problem the ukrainians try to organize Evac uation corridors some are successful and between March 14th and 15th thousands of

civilians managed to leave but the Russians who have an interest in keeping people trapped are accused of shelling The Roots shooting vehicles or attacking gaps in the Ukrainian line created for civilians to pass through in mid-march the corridors collapse all remaining civilians are now trapped the Russians also bomb Communications Towers cutting Mar upo off from the outside world is key to winning the information War but before Russia could complete the task two atrocities unfold with the world watching first Russia bombs the marup maternity hospital while patients are inside which is documented by a few Brave

journalists who are still in the city second Russia bombs the marup theater while hundreds of people are Sheltering in it despite the word children being written on the pavement outside by this time there are no journalists left and the destruction is only captured by Satellite by mid-march Russian forces have begun to gain footholds in the Eastern outskirts of the city and thanks to additional reinforcements have pushed into the North and the West as well a key axis of Advance is from the West along peace Avenue one of the main highways into marup pole units from

Russia's 150th 177th and 810th brigades are leading the attack up against men of the Azo Brigade supported by Naval Special Forces the ukrainians put up stiff resistance but thanks in part to huge artillery barges that simply flatten their positions the Russians break through and Advance towards the city center meanwhile in the East forces of the denet People's Republic backed by spnat Special Forces make significant gains and almost surround Ukrainian forces here being encircled is the deadliest position a soldier can find themselves in with no way out the options are either to surrender or to try

and fight their way through Enemy Lines usually with heavy casualties luckily for these men they avoid the Trap and fall backwards towards azof sty as we'll see in a moment others were not so lucky it is now late March and The Noose is tightening Russia bolsters its forces to an estimated 20,000 men who are pushing a few thousand Defenders back into a smaller and smaller area cut off from help and desperately outnumbered it is becoming increasingly clear what the outcome of this battle will be even the best soldiers cannot hold out Forever Without Water ammo

and medical supplies already Medics are having to perform amputations without anesthetic but marup cannot be allowed to fall yet hundreds of miles away to the north the Russians are at the gates of Kiev if these men surrender then all of these troops can join that attack and if the capital Falls Ukraine as a nation gets wiped off the map help must reach these men somehow and Ukraine devises a plan to bring in supplies by the air here's the donbass once more the Deno river is over here and by this point these areas have now fallen

to the Russians the plan is this pairs of helicopters taking off from denpro City will head Southeast towards marup Crossing Russian lines somewhere north of berdiansk to ensure they're not spotted Ukrainian artillery will open fire at the exact moment they pass to distract the Russians the helicopters will then head out to sea swooping around to approach AZ ofy from cled and land inside the steel plant covering this whole area is a network of Russian air defenses Jets and ships that could easily pick off the transport helicopters if they are spotted once on the ground they

will have exactly 10 minutes to unload their supplies and get the wounded on board before flying the same route in Reverse to ensure the helicopters can carry the maximum weight of supplies and wounded the amount of fuel on board will be strictly Limited just enough to make it there and back lingering even a few minutes too long at the plant or getting lost on the way means they will not have enough fuel to complete the return Journey it sounds like suicide but incredibly the ukrainians pull off seven of these rescue missions over the next several

weeks every single one of the 16 helicopters that take off make it to the ground inside a of sty bringing 30 tons of supplies with them among them are much needed medicines ammunition including anti-tank weapons food water and starlink terminals that will allow the Defenders to once again communicate with the outside world even more incredibly the helicopters also bring 72 soldiers who volunteered to go and help the Defenders despite knowing there was no way out once they got there but not everything goes to plan two helicopters are shot down making the return Journey a third

is hit trying to rescue the two that crashed back in marupa the situation has improved but not by much the extra ammo and Men help drive up the number of Russian casualties but are not enough to hold back the tide the next Russian breakthrough comes in the north where troops punch through Ukrainian lines towards the city center but rather than continue to advance they loop back on themselves and surround the ilich steelworks which is Loc located here around 2,000 Ukrainian troops are now trapped inside cut off not just from the rest of Ukraine but also

their fellow comrades in the city their prospects are Grim 250 soldiers of the 501st Marine Battalion throw up their hands in surrender while the remaining Ukrainian troops decide to try and break out two plans are devised first a large group from the 36th Marine Brigade try to Escape North hoping to make it through Russian lines and out of the city altogether to rejoin Ukrainian forces dozens of miles away they are hit by heavy Russian fire along the way and around a thousand of them are captured this includes Aiden Ain and Shawn Pinner two Britains enlisted

with the 36th Brigade falsely branded foreign mercenaries they are taken back to donet where they will be sentenced to death in a show trial before eventually being freed in a prisoner swap another smaller group of Ukrainian soldiers break out of the encirclement to the South moving under the cover of Darkness towards the AZ of sty plant where they dig in the same scenario then plays out in the west where Azo Fighters and the 12th operational Brigade are cut off in this port area they stag their own breakout Mission also moving at night they hope to

sneak through Russian lines here cross the calus river here and then dig in to AZ of stout however they are spotted by Russians who call artillery down on them destroying the keybridge across the river with men stranded on opposite sides of the bank the ukrainians are forced to use Wooden Boats and ropes to pull them across the Waterway all whilst being shot at dozens of men are killed and wounded in the operation but most make it out alive the survivors also fall back inside the steel works now the Russians swarm what remains of marup but

the ukrainians are a long way from giving up Putin has pulled his forces out of Kiev and is moving them to the donbass Ukraine needs time to prepare its defenses there and these men inside a of stal are going to give it to them this is the AZ of sty steel Works a sprawling complex roughly twice the size of Midtown Manhattan that used to be one of the largest factories in Europe built by the Soviets during the Cold War it sits at top a 15 mile network of tunnels and bunkers that were supposed to shelter

workers during a nuclear strike the furnaces and iron casting works are down here on the southwestern Corner along with a set of docks while a lot of the larger industrial buildings are located here in the Northeast it is surrounded by water on three sides and has large walls almost like a medieval castle the perfect place in other words to withstand Siege inside the plant at this moment are roughly 2,000 Ukrainian Soldiers the remains of the azov Brigade and 36th Marine Brigade and a few hundred men of the 109th territorial defense Brigade alongside them are around

a th000 civilians mostly plant workers and their families who were invited to shelter inside the tunnels as the fighting broke out they believed the battle would be over in just a few days and then they could come out now they are trapped in the center of the war zone to breach as of styles defenses the Russians bring in their largest strategic bombers Tu 22s to drop bunker busting bombs on the ukrainians in just one overnight period in late April 50 air strikes hit the complex causing a partial collapse of one of the tunnels and trapping

the wounded underground fearing a massacre the UN helps brokera ceasefire to get the civilians out on May the 1st a convoy of buses carrying a few hundred people leaves the Factory and drives out of maruo towards the Ukrainian City zapia over the course of the next week all civilians are successfully evacuated they return with horror stories of people forced to drink water from radiators to stay alive after the city got cut off of mass burials in roadside ditches in back Gardens anywhere bodies could fit and after the space ran out bodies simply left to lie

in the streets officially the civilian death toll stands at 8 ,000 but Ukrainian officials believe the true toll likely exceeds a 100,000 those not killed are taken to filtration camps which resemble World War II concentration camps some disappear and are never seen again others including children are deported to Russia and forced to adopt new lives with new families and Russian passports as of style the last soldiers are still holding out Russia is bombing the steel works Night and Day and trying to advance inside in armored columns despite overwhelming superiority in Manpower and Firepower they cannot

breach the defenses but the Ukrainian Garrison is by now almost totally out of ammo food and water on May 16th word comes from Kev all remaining Defenders are ordered to lay down their weapons and surrender to the Russians a bargain has been struck that will allow the wounded troops and bodies of the Fallen to return to Ukraine in return the remaining ukrainians will be taken prisoner back to Russia over the course of 3 days in late may all ukrainians leave the plant The Siege is now over but the story doesn't end here the Ukrainian prisoners

are taken by bus to nearby camps and 2 months later around 200 die in a fire suspected to have been started by the Russians hundreds more are traded back to Ukraine in prisoner swaps returning with stories of torture at the hands of their captors but around 900 of them are still in captivity and Ukraine is fighting to get them back now let's clear the board and discuss some of the tactics that ensured the few thousand Defenders of marup managed to hold out against 20,000 Russians Urban combat is one of the hardest forms of combat and

it massively favors the defender when staging an attack what armies want perhaps more than anything else is freedom of movement they want to be able to approach their objective from multiple angles bypassing well- defended areas and exploiting weak spots they want the option to Launch surprise attacks and dictate the tempo sometimes moving fast to create confusion and other times slowing down to rearm or resupply but always at a time and a place of their own choosing Defenders therefore want to limit this freedom of movement as much as possible they want to close off routes of

surprise attack and divert their enemies away from weak spots and towards their strongest defenses what they really want is to funnel attackers into well-prepared kill zones that are covered by their weapons like machine guns and mortars and slow them down to a crawl inside that zone so they can be easily picked off defending wide open areas such as fields or deserts is therefore difficult there are loads of potential attack routes and the Defenders have to work hard to establish good positions this usually means laying Mine Fields deploying barbed wire making the best use of any

cover like tree lines or Hills and digging anti-tank ditches and infantry trenches all of which can take weeks or months to do properly but in the city most of that hard work is already done attackers have only a limited number of routes in usually narrow streets which can be made even narrower or totally blocked using obstacles concrete barriers barbed wire mines even city buses and garbage trucks if preparation time is limited can all be used to deny attack routs to the enemy or at the very least slow them down funneling enemies into kill zones is

therefore relatively easy and once the enemy is in the Kill Zone the urban environment helps out again with high-rise buildings these are perfect locations for snipers anti-tank missile launchers machine gun nests and other heavy weapons they will be looking down on the attackers providing the Defenders with the best possible shot while making them hard to hit in return depending on how much time the Defenders have to prepare this nightmare situation could be made even worse for the attackers by knocking holes between rooms and constructing walkways between buildings allowing the Defenders to flee after opening fire

in military parants this is called displacing it means by the time the enemy has worked out where they're being shot from and returned fire the defender is no longer there they're somewhere else ready to take another shot in open terrain displacing can be risky it may involve running between open ground between one prepared position and another and the number of positions available will be limited but in cities the number of available positions is near Limitless and Defenders are in cover the entire time while moving if they've taken the time to stash ammo at various strategic

points along their route it means they can fire and displace almost indefinitely wearing down even the most determined and best Co ordinated enemy attacks this is why Urban combat is so intense most western militaries teach that for any kind of attack to succeed you want a 3:1 advantage in Manpower in urban combat that rises to 6 to1 even for an army skilled in coordinating its Firepower for maximum effect Russia's military is not so skilled meaning it needs even more manpower to achieve the same effect in the end dancing into marup pole proved so difficult for

Russia that it was forced to resort to flattening the city with artillery giving its troops freedom to maneuver once again and that is why just a few thousand Ukrainian Defenders were able to hold off tens of thousands of Russians for so long thanks for watching if you like this kind of content and want to see more in your feed don't forget to hit like And subscribe or click the buttons on screen to watch other episodes