Russia's invasion of Ukraine Four Ukrainian cities - this is the situation right now

Of: 

Adrian Ericson 

 

Published: Less than 2 hours ago 

 

Updated: Less than 30 minutes ago 

 

NEWS 

 

After the failure in Kyiv with major military setbacks, Russia has been forced to change its focus. 

 

Ukraine has managed to push back the Russian offensive - but many Ukrainians are stuck in the occupying power's iron grip. 

 

This is the situation in four cities in Ukraine. 

 

Mariupol 

 

Before the war, 430,000 people lived in Mariupol. Then Russian forces bombed the city to ruins. The bombing of a theater and a children's hospital aroused the anger of the outside world. 

 

Mayor Vadym Boichenko says 90 percent of the city's buildings are damaged. 

 

After a long siege, the city is now under Russian control. On Friday, the last soldiers under the Azovstal steelworks were ordered to surrender. To the south there is water, in all other directions Russian forces.  

 

According to Ukrainian authorities, 100,000 civilians remain in the city. Thousands have died, according to Ukrainian data, as many as 20,000. The humanitarian situation is difficult. During the siege, recurring alarms have come about haunting hunger. 

 

 

According to the mayor, there are several mass graves in the city, the sewage systems are damaged and the drinking water risks being polluted if there is a lot of rain, writes Die Zeit.

 

- The city is facing an outbreak of infectious diseases, says Boichenko. 

 

Petro Andryushchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian mayor who is now working in exile, tells The Guardian there are signs that the occupying forces are preparing a referendum to connect Mariupol to Russia. 

 

- We see that much of Mariupol is integrated into the Russian system, such as education and banks, he says. 

 

However, the political puppet government has problems building a functioning political administration, according to the Institute for the Study of War. 

 

 

Kharkiv 

 

In Kharkiv, the aircraft alarm still sounds daily, from the north and east the rumble of artillery is heard. 

But the Russians have been forced to flee the country's second largest city. 

 

During the first days of the war, the most intense fighting in Kharkiv, located in northern Ukraine, raged just a few miles from the Russian border. Russia rushed in from the north with the goal of encircling the city. 

It did not succeed. In recent weeks, Ukraine has recaptured a large area in the Kharkiv region - which has also highlighted major shortcomings in Russia's military capability. A major setback for Putin. 

 

 

Much of Kharkiv has been destroyed, according to the city mayor. Photo: Bernat Armangue / AP 

 

According to the Institute of the Study of War , Russia currently has a defensive focus to maintain its position in the area. 

 

On Thursday, Mayor Ihor Terechov urged residents of the city to move out of the city's subway system, where thousands have taken refuge since the invasion, writes NPR. 

 

- Of course, a lot has been destroyed. Many neighborhoods are destroyed. 108 out of 200 schools in the city have been destroyed, says mayor Ihor Terechov to SVT News(SVT Nyheter). 

 

In early May, pictures showed how the streets in reclaimed neighborhoods were lined with corpses."Death is everywhere," the AP reported. 

 

The newfound security is fragile. Just kilometers north, in Ruska Lozova, the Russian front line is right next door. Recently, three soldiers were killed in a Russian bomb attack. 

 

- The Russians want to block us from breaking through at all costs. If that happens, their roads to Izium are in danger. So this will be a long and tough fight, says officer Vsevolod Kozhemyako to The Independent.

Odessa

 

The million-strong city of Odessa on the Black Sea is preparing for the worst. The Russian front line has certainly been pushed back from Mykolaiv, a few miles east. At the same time, Russia has control of Mariupol and Kherson just behind it. 

 

The city has been subjected to several robot attacks and in the city center, tank obstacles have been placed on the streets. Ukrainian air force has fired a number of Russian robots. Others have hit bridges, demolished an airport and damaged various buildings. 

 

A notable military success from the Odessa region was when Ukraine managed to sink the Russian flagship Moscow. The Ukrainian governor of the Odessa region stated that the Ukrainian Coast Guard has hit the ship with two naval target robots of the type R-360 Neptune, writes Washington Post. 

 

Odessa, with its rich cultural history and strategically important port, is singled out as a possible next destination for Russia. It assumes, among others, the US intelligence chief Avril Haines. If Putin wants to establish a corridor along the entire coast to the pro-Russian breakaway republic of Transnistria, he must conquer Odessa. 

 

According to sources on the Ukrainian side, Russia has deployed both military ships and submarines in readiness to launch cruise missiles at the city.

 

 

Kherson 

 

In Kherson, heavily armed men patrol and military vehicles roll on the streets. The city in southern Ukraine has been under Russian occupation since the first days of the war. 

 

Democratically elected politicians have been deposed and a Russian-loyal puppet government has been installed. 

 

At first, the residents took to the streets and protested. 

 

"Then the Russians started firing, then we stopped demonstrating," Mariya told CNN.

 

Half of the city's 283,000 inhabitants are estimated to have left the city. Others are desperately trying to escape. Russia has tightened controls and set up a number of roadblocks. Convoys with cars have been shelled. 

 

Russia's loyal puppet government has called on Putin to annex Kherson. (uppmanat Putin att annektera Cherson.)The ruble has been introduced, schools are forced to follow a Russian curriculum and free media have been replaced by Russian propaganda. Residents testify to lack of work, groceries and medicines. 

 

Ukraine is determined to retake Kherson. The port city is close to the Crimea and control of Kherson means control of the inlet to the river Dnieper. To the east of the city, Russia is in control - but to the west, Ukrainian troops have been advancing in recent times. 

 

From Chornobaivka, just north of Kherson at the airport, bangs and rumbles are heard from intense Ukrainian attacks. "Our armed forces are more battle-ready than ever," said Officer Nazar, who is leading a 500-strong Ukrainian battalion of Euronews.

 

Their goal is to recapture their city.