Why Putin refuses to give up on Mariupol

Ukrainians may not give up the fight in Mariupol, but will it matter to Putin?

The attention for Putin and the Russian military is now focused on the Donbas region expeditiously targeting the city of Mariupol to create a land bridge to Crimea which was seized from Ukraine by Russia and annexed in March 2014. Russian forces have moved out of the capital Kyiv in north of Ukraine, leaving a trail of death and destruction, deciding to now focus on terrorizing the Donbas region, in particular the city of Mariupol which expands Russia’s control over supplies near the Black Sea.

In the recent weeks focus has been on the Donbas region, specifically the city of Mariupol where their devastation first appeared around two months ago. Furthermore, we have seen some of the destruction occur to the death of women and children at a theater for civilians in need of shelter in the past month.

The West have sent more military aid to Ukrainians defense despite Putin’s threats, but will it be enough with the constant shelling and bombing in Mariupol. President Biden says he is “announcing another $800 million to further augment Ukrainians ability to fight in the East in the Donbas region.” It is hard to say if it will be enough, but we understand from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky it is not in the spirit of Ukrainians to capitulate to the Russian military. More Ukrainian civilians have taken the initiative to leave the region while there is still enough time to flee the area safely. Approximately 5 million citizens have decided to flee Ukraine before things intensify.

The Russians have shown over the last two months they refuse to give up the battle of expanding territory no matter the outcries of the civilians. According to Pentagon and U.S. Military Reporter Dan LaMothe, Putin is “probably trying to slice a section of Eastern and Southern Ukraine that would include Mariupol’, a major city in the south that has been bombarded for weeks.” Now Mariupol is not fully conquered, but most of it is laid to waste. Moreover, it is not completely conquered but Putin is already claiming it a victory. To win Mariupol gives Putin the opportunity to celebrate the advancement of conquering more land which looks victorious for Russia’s Victory Day May,9, which is a celebration of victory over Nazi Germany.

Looking at the outcome of Russia’s first attacks, we see that they got off to a rocky start. Putin moving to the Donbas region gives him an opportunity to regain momentum back from his past failures and gain a region in the nick of time for the celebration in May. Moreover, the more momentum Putin gains, the more people will not pay attention to the mishaps he made in the beginning of the war. Furthermore, we see some Ukrainians stationed in Azovstal Iron and Steel Works where they refuse to surrender to the Russian army.

The sad part about the battle in Ukraine is it has caused division between Ukrainian and Russian soldiers of the same Christian faith. In Europe particularly in Ukraine and Russia, Orthodox Christianity is the dominant faith. This is an additional dagger, seeing two countries where people share the same language and faith, but one is waging war against the other. With the two countries sharing the same religion and history, you should see some type of negotiation work out. The problem is every negotiation has failed thus far which gives the world the feeling Putin wants Ukraine all to himself. The more territory he can claim, the easier it should be for him to slowly take land piece by piece.