Mariupol varnar för blockad av el, vatten och värme: ”Är precis som i Leningrad”

Belägringen av Leningrad var en del i den nazityska offensiven mot Sovjetunionen i samband med Operation Barbarossa under andra världskriget och varade i cirka 900 dagar; från 8 september 1941 till 27 januari 1944. Belägringen anses ha börjat när tyska trupper den 8 september skar av de sista vägarna in till Leningrad, sedermera omdöpt till Sankt Petersburg, och kom att bli en av de mest förödande belägringarna i världshistorien i termer av stupade.

Mariupol (UK: , US: ; Ukrainian: Маріу́поль, romanized: Mariupol' [mɐr⁽ʲ⁾iˈupolʲ] (listen); also Маріюпіль Mariiupil [mɐr⁽ʲ⁾iˈjupilʲ]; Russian: Мариу́поль, romanized: Mariúpol' [mərʲɪˈupəlʲ]; Greek: Μαριούπολη, romanized: Marioúpoli) is a city of regional significance in south eastern Ukraine, situated on the north coast of the Sea of Azov at the mouth of the Kalmius river, in the Pryazovia region. It is the tenth-largest city in Ukraine, and the second largest in the Donetsk Oblast with a population of 431,859 (2021 est.).The city is largely and traditionally Russophone, while ethnically the population is divided about evenly between Ukrainians and Russians. There is also a significant ethnic Greek minority in the city. Mariupol was founded on the site of a former Cossack encampment named Kalmius and granted city rights in 1778. It has been a centre for the grain trade, metallurgy, and heavy engineering, including the Illich Steel & Iron Works and Azovstal. Mariupol has played a key role in the industrialization of Ukraine. As part of the Soviet practice of renaming cities after Communist leaders, the city was known as Zhdanov, after the Soviet functionary Andrei Zhdanov, between 1948 and 1989. Today, Mariupol remains a centre for industry, as well as higher education and business. Following the War in Donbas when the city of Donetsk became the capital of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in 2014, Mariupol was made the provisional administrative centre of the Donetsk Oblast. The city was secured on June 13, 2014 by Ukrainian troops, and has come under attack several times since. The city was besieged during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.