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Ukraine: The defenders of Mariupol

Despite the month-long ceasefire, fighting continues in villages near the strategic eastern city.

The port city of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine has long been seen as a key target for separatist rebels. It is the largest government-controlled town in the area and a bridge between rebel-held areas in the east and the Crimean peninsula.
By Tommy Trenchard
Published On 18 Mar 2015

Shyrokine, Ukraine – The ceasefire in eastern Ukraine has been in place for more than a month, but in this front-line village outside the strategic city of Mariupol, the violence never stopped.

Volunteer fighters with the Donbas and Azov battalions exchange fire with pro-Russia separatist rebels on a daily basis.

Despite being obliged by the ceasefire agreement to withdraw all heavy weapons from the front lines, both sides are using tanks and 120mm mortars in an ongoing struggle for the important coastal village.

“It’s like ping pong here,” said one soldier with the Donbas Battalion, who acknowledged that Ukrainian forces were using heavy weaponry in the area.

At a military base in the neighbouring village of Berdianskwe, mortar rounds fly overhead and the sounds of explosions and machine-gun fire ring out throughout the day. 

Shyrokine has become a hotspot in the conflict, lying within range of the steel-producing port city of Mariupol, which is seen as a key target for the rebels. Most of the city’s residents are Russian speakers, and many are sympathetic with the separatists’ cause.

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The city is a major industrial hub, its steel plant the destination for much of the region's coal. Life continues relatively as normal for most residents, despite the audible shelling going on just a few kilometres away.
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From a military base in the village of Berdianskwe, a fighter with the Azov battalion looks out towards the front line village of Shyrokine, the scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks.
An armoured vehicle passes through farmland behind the front line outside Shyrokine. Around Mariupol, trenches are being dug and defences set up in anticipation of a rebel assault.
An Azov battalion fighter stands guard at a military base in Berdianskwe.
An Azov battalion fighter stands guard at a military base in Berdianskwe. The volunteer battalions have usurped the national army as the main players in checking the rebel advance.
An elderly woman travels through a checkpoint on the road to Shyrokine. The atmosphere is tense around Mariupol and checkpoints have been set up around the city.
Nika, a female member of the Donbas battalion, unloads a machine gun from a truck at a military base in Berdianskwe. Female fighters are present in most of Ukraine's volunteer battalions.
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Fighters return from the front line in Shyrokine. 'It's not as hot as it was yesterday,' said one soldier, Anton. 'And the day before yesterday it was hell. Now it is quiet, just a couple of shellings. Some grenades, shooting, and some tanks.'
The Azov Battalion has come under fire for the far-right views of many of its fighters.
A few days ago the Donbas battalion lost a young volunteer to a mortar round, and several others have been wounded in the last week.
Exhausted after returning from the front line, a soldier lies down to rest. Many fighters had little or no military experience prior to signing up for the fight against separatist rebels. The fighters are paid little. 'We are doing this for our country,' said one.
While a monitoring mission from the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says the ceasefire is still largely on track, soldiers from the Azov Battalion have been fighting day in, day out.
A soldier stands by an armoured vehicle at a base in Berdanskwe. While the intensity of the fighting is less than it was before the ceasefire, nobody here believes the truce will last. Fighting tends to subside when the OSCE are in the area, explained one officer, but often continues late into the night.