How Russia Took Mariupol, by Simon Lapham

 Please enjoy this article from DMHS's "Introduction to Journalism" class!

There are many rules of war that make sure innocent people don't die, but in the Ukrainian and Russian war these rules aren't followed by some and the result of these acts are devastating.

On February 24th, 2022, Russia declared that they were going to war with Ukraine until it was a part of Russia. That morning, Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation to take over Ukraine that involved doing everything in his power to expand his country. But as Putin failed to take over the capital Kyiv, he shifted his focus to battles in eastern Ukraine. After almost a whole year of fighting Putin got his first big win by taking the city of Mariupol. This was a big accomplishment to Russia because this was their first city they won over and it helps Russia transport military personnel. The city was held down by around 2439 Ukrainian Fighters who surrendered the Monday of May, 2022, says PBS News. Now, the city is more of a symbolic importance to Russia than anything else.

The city of Mariupol endured some of the worst suffering of the war. It's estimated that of Mariupol’s population of 450,000 people, only 100,000 are left. Sergey Vaganov (63) and his wife Iryna (62) are both survivors of the countless bombings in Ukrainian cities. “I was thinking – what would we run out of first? Food? Water? Or will a bomb land on us?”

Satellite images show Russian forces burying over 9,500 people in a graveyard near Mariupol. This shows that Russia is not holding back and that they will do anything to win this war. As Russia was fighting for Mariupol they did not hold back and they even went as far as bombing a hospital and a cinema which, combined, killed about 600 people. But acts like these are now a normal occurrence in the Russian and Ukrainian War. 

Cities like Mariupol have endured some of the worst of the war and have been changed as a city. When the war against Russia is over, Mariupol will never go back to normal. Even if it does, most will have terrifying memories of what happened in front of them.

Simon Lapham is a 9th grader at DMHS. He likes writing.