RFE/RL's Cark Schreck has been looking at why Mariupol is such a stratgeic and symbolic target for the rebels:
Should the separatists manage to push through to Mariupol and take control of the city, its port could provide a critical logistical lifeline for the rebels and Russian fighters battling Ukrainian forces, Melnyk added.
The Mariupol Sea Port handled 13 million metric tons of cargo -- including steel -- last year, making it Ukraine's fifth largest port in terms of freight traffic in 2014 and by far the busiest commercial marine hub on the Azov Sea, according to official data from the state-owned port.
"Should the rebels capture it, this would essentially deprive Ukraine of the Azov coast. Not in a geographical sense, but in an economic sense," said Aleksandr Khramchikhin, deputy director of the Moscow-based Institute of Political and Military Analysis in Moscow.
Read the entire article here
Here's a video from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service showing the aftermath of the rocket attacks on Mariupol today:
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