From the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, one of their primary targets was Mariupol. The Luhansk region city is strategically located on the Sea of Azov. 

Mariupol is the “land bridge” connecting the separatist-controlled Donbas area and the Russian annexed Crimean Peninsula.  It is also Ukraine’s primary seaport.

The Russian military has decimated the city in an effort to gain control.

Siege of Mariupol successful

"We are in the hands of the occupiers today," said Mayor Vadym Boichenko, who recently evacuated. 

The mayor said that the 30-day siege of the city was a victory for Russia. And the city is in ruins. The citizens are trapped without enough food, electricity, or clean drinking water.

Boichenko evacuated from the city recently. He estimated that nearly 5,000 people have been killed by Russian bombs.  Pre-invasion Mariupol was a bustling city with a population of 400,000.

Only 160,000 people are still there.  Ukrainian sources accuse the Russian separatist troops of forcibly kidnaping thousands of Mariupol residents. And when people tried to leave last week through the evacuation corridors the Russians fired on them.

 More than half the city’s population is unaccounted for.

In a video call Zelensky told the city's remaining defenders they needed to leave. And said Ukraine's military lacked "a sufficient number of tanks, other armored vehicles, and ... aircraft" to "break the blockade in Mariupol."

The invasion forces expected to capture Mariupol quickly. They underestimated the resistance of Ukraine. For over a month Russia indiscriminately bombarded the people.

 It is now confirmed that this the first city to fall in the deadly war being waged in Ukraine.