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The example of the small Ukrainian town of Marinka shows how quickly war can turn a city into rubble and ashes. Until a year ago, about 10,000 people lived in the city not far from Donetsk. Meanwhile, after a year of war in Ukraine, Marinka has mutated into a ghost town.
Social media images showing what Marinka looks like today illustrate the extent of the destruction. According to a report in the “Kronen Zeitung”, there is also a very specific reason for the current state of the city: the superiority of the Russian artillery.
Battalions sent to Bachmut
According to an unnamed colonel in the Austrian army, the Russian artillery had between seven and ten times more guns than the Ukrainian. The Russian soldiers then fired on Marinka for months with barrel and rocket launcher artillery. The Colonel even draws comparisons with the costly battles on the Isonzo and in Verdun during the First World War.
“If the Ukrainians had carried out the offensive at Melitopol in late autumn as planned and if they had broken through to the Sea of Azov, the situation today could be different,” the colonel said.
Instead, numerous battalions were sent to Bakhmut. For months, a relentless war of attrition has been raging in the city, which is about 80 kilometers from Marinka. Numerous soldiers, both Russian and Ukrainian, have died there.
‘Russia is reeling and Ukraine is bleeding dry’
The colonel estimates that this is a bigger problem for the Ukraine than for the Russians. Russia, with its much larger army, has an advantage in this situation. “Russia falters and lashes out, while Ukraine bleeds out,” he says.
But Marinka has not been alone in the brutal fighting for a year. The city was already heavily fought over in the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian war. A year later the Ukrainians broke through. At that time, Marinka came back under the control of Kiev.
Although Moscow announced the capture of the city shortly after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the fighting here never ended. As the “NZZ” reports, the Russians would systematically raz the city to the ground, clearing their way meter by meter. (ceded)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
