Source: Global People Magazine
Author: Zheng Aotian
Editor: Feng Lu
Editor: Ling Yun Su Rui
On 16 April, Mariupol had been besieged for 45 days.
On the same day, the Russian army issued an "ultimatum" to the Ukrainian army trapped in the Azov steel plant, demanding that it surrender immediately, which was rejected by the Ukrainian army. The next day, the Russian and Ukrainian armies once again engaged in a deadly duel in the ruins of the steel mill.
On the same day that the Russians resumed their offensive, the Donetsk forces announced that in the night of the 11th to the 12th, they had thwarted the attempt of the Independent 36th Brigade of the Ukrainian Marine Corps (hereinafter referred to as the Ukrainian Independent 36th Brigade) to break through from the Mariupol Ilyich Metallurgical Plant, and the brigade's commander, Colonel Vladimir Baranyuk, was killed.
As the most senior and experienced soldier in the besieged Ukrainian army, Baranyuk was an important commander of the Mariupol garrison. If the statement of the Donetsk armed forces is true, this could have important implications for the war situation in Mariupol.
The city of Mariupol in the midst of war.
The video raises questions
To prove that Baranyuk was dead, the Donetsk armed forces posted a video of special forces ambushing Baranyuk's troops on the Internet.
In the video, donetsk armed forces use drones and night vision equipment to spot and engage in night combat. Subsequently, the remains of Ukrainian soldiers and damaged weapons appeared in the video. The armbands of the 36th Independent Brigade of Ukraine can be clearly seen on the uniforms of the remains. However, the video does not show Baranyuk's relics and identity documents.
The armband of the Ukrainian Independent 36th Brigade in the uniform of a fallen Ukrainian soldier.
News of Baranyuk's death has not been confirmed by the Ukrainian side. Meanwhile, another video circulated on the Ukrainian internet, allegedly filmed by Baranyuk in the underground fortifications of the Azov Steel Works. The "Baranyuk" in the video confessed that the besieged Ukrainian army lacked food and ammunition. But he insisted that "[we will] hold Mariupol until the end".
The "Baranyuk" who appears in the video has a beard, a hoarse voice, and puffy eyes, which is very different from the image in his pre-war photos. This has led many to suspect that he is not really Baranyuk.
Video of "Baranyuk" (pictured left) circulating on ukrainian networks.
Others have questioned that on April 14, in a "distress video" jointly released with the Azov battalion, which was called a neo-Nazi organization by the Russian side, the representative of the 36th Independent Brigade of Ukraine was not this "Baranyuk", but another officer of the brigade, Sergei Volina. If Baranyuk had been at the Azov Steel Works, he would have appeared with the commander of the Azov Battalion as commander of the Independent 36 brigade in Ukraine.
Sergey Volena (left) and Azov Battalion Commander Prokpenko in distress video.
This series of questionable information has left Paraniuk's fate a mystery. And this was just an episode in the fierce siege of Mariupol.
In fact, as early as the first day of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the city of Mariupol became the target of the Russian-Ukrainian competition. On 2 March, the Russians completed the siege of Mariupol. There were four brigades of the Ukrainian defenders in the encirclement, including the Ukrainian Independent 36th Brigade commanded by Baranyuk.
In the weeks that followed, the Ukrainian Independent 36th Brigade and the Russian army engaged in a tug-of-war with the Russian army at the Ilyich Metallurgical Plant for more than a month. As a commander, Baranyuk acted calmly, relied on fortifications to fight protracted battles, and was awarded the "Hero of Ukraine" medal for his military exploits.
Ukrainian soldiers hiding in hidden fortifications.
However, with supplies and heavy weapons depleted, the ill-prepared Ukrainian Independent 36th Brigade once faced collapse – when they blocked the Russian tank unit, they were surprised to find that the British-aided anti-tank missiles could not be fired. More than 50 of the morale-demoralized Ukrainian soldiers chose to surrender to the Russians.
Beginning in April, the 36th Independent Brigade of Ukraine showed signs of inability. On the night of 11 April, Baranyuk led hundreds of Ukrainian troops in a breakout with the intention of moving to the steel mills held by the Azov battalion. Although the breakthrough was blocked by Russian forces and Donetsk, many soldiers of the Independent 36th Brigade of Ukraine arrived at the Azov Steel Plant.
A day later, the Russians announced the capture of the Ilyich Metallurgical Plant and captured 1,160 soldiers of the 36th Independent Brigade of Ukraine, of whom about 400 were wounded. On 13 April, Russians captured the port of Mariupol. The Azov Steel Plant thus became the last stronghold of the Ukrainian army.
As the defensive center of gravity of the Ukrainian army, the Azov Steel Plant covers an area of about 11 square kilometers. During the Cold War, in order to ensure the safety of steel mill workers, the Soviet Union built 6 underground bunkers under the steel plants. The bunkers are well-equipped with power generation, storage and ventilation equipment and can withstand nuclear strikes. Britain's Daily Telegraph believes the bunker could hold at least 1,500 Ukrainian soldiers.
In the view of the British military expert Klempu, if the Russian army wants to completely eliminate the resistance of the Ukrainian army, it has to enter the underground bunker to meet the Ukrainian army. "The (Ukrainian) soldiers there don't want to be captured, and I don't think they're going to surrender. The Russians did not want to go in, and went to clear them meter by meter underground. It's horrible. ”
Evacuated citizens of Mariupol through safe passages established by the Red Cross.
Nevertheless, more and more Russian troops are throwing themselves into the offensive against Mariupol. In such a situation, the Russian army and the Ukrainian army launched a fierce street battle, both sides suffered heavy casualties, and Mariupol became a "meat grinder" in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
He was disarmed in Crimea
As a front-line ukrainian officer, Baranyuk has little public information, and the earliest record of him is in 2000. That year, the 26-year-old Baranyuk joined the Ukrainian Marine Corps as a platoon leader and was stationed on the Crimean Peninsula for a long time.
In the Ukrainian military system, the Marine Corps is considered an elite force along with the airborne troops. Marines outperformed the regular units in terms of equipment, training, and treatment. At the same time, the Ukrainian Marine Corps retained the tradition of the Soviet period, such as the need to drink a liter of seawater before recruits entered the military service, and the seawater container must be the lampshade of the ship's explosion-proof lamp.
2012 was Baranyuk's 12th year of service with the Ussan Marine Corps. That year, he earned the rank of major and began training for peacekeeping missions, preparing to join the Ukrainian peacekeeping force.
However, the Crimean crisis of 2014 interrupted Baranyuk's orderly military career. Faced with the sudden appearance of Russian troops in Crimea, the 1st Brigade of the Ukrainian Marine Corps, which was serving in Baranyuk, was quickly disarmed by the Russians and sent to a prisoner of war camp.
Paraniuk, who had just been released by the Russians. (Infographic)
After the Crimean incident, Baranyuk and hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were released by the Russian army. In an interview in Ukraine, Baranyuk had obvious scars on his right eye and blood on the collar of his military uniform. When asked by the reporter why he had scars on his body, Baranyuk laughed and replied: "This is the 'professional risk' [of being a soldier', I got a concussion because my ass was kicked." ”
Colonel Baranyuk in an interview with Ukrainian media.
Baranyuk told reporters at the time that the Russian army drove an armored vehicle to knock down the barracks gate and used tear gas and shock bombs to drive the Ukrainian troops out of the barracks, but no one was injured in the whole process. He also said there had been a voice in Crimea that was hoping to merge with Russia, "I don't think those comrades who choose to stay in Crimea are 'traitors.'"
Balaniuk, who returned to Ukraine, was soon reused by the Ukrainian army. In 2020, he was promoted to deputy brigade commander. In September 2021, he became brigade commander of the 36th Independent Brigade of Ukraine.
It is worth mentioning that the officers and soldiers of the Independent 36 Brigade of Ukraine are mainly composed of Ukrainian troops who chose to return to Ukraine after being captured. The brigade entered the city of Mariupol in 2016. After taking office, Baranyuk commanded the Ukrainian army to build fortifications in the area, turning the coastal city into a fortress.
Ukraine's red line
As the main battlefield of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the fate of Mariupol has attracted the attention of both Russia and Ukraine. In March, the two sides reached an agreement to entrust the Red Cross with the establishment of humanitarian corridors in Mariupol to evacuate civilians trapped in the city.
However, Russia and Ukraine soon began to attack each other. The Russian side criticized the Azov battalion under the Ukrainian army for deliberately preventing civilian evacuation and taking a large number of civilians as hostages. On April 17, Russia announced that special forces had liberated the Mariupol Mosque from Ukrainian militants and rescued many abducted civilians, many of them expatriates from Middle Eastern countries. The Ukrainian side claimed that the Russian side shelled humanitarian passages and residential areas, threatening the safety of civilians.
On April 17, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Drytlo Kureba said in an interview with CBS that the situation in the city of Mariupol was already very grim. He also stressed that Mariupol is the "red line" for the Ukrainian side to negotiate. Ukrainian President Zelenskiy has previously said that if the Russian army finally surrounds the Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol, then peace talks cannot continue.
Russian tanks engaged in street battles in the city of Mariupol.
The U.S. think tank War Research Institute believes that in the current situation, it is only a matter of time before the Russian army occupies the city of Mariupol. Mariupol is one of the main ports of the Black Sea and an important metallurgical and steelmaking center of Ukraine. If the Russian army occupies the city, it will allow the Russian army to connect the Donetsk region with the Crimea region, and the Russian army on the eastern and southern fronts can meet the division, which is of strategic significance.
The pre-war city of Mariupol.
If the Russians capture Mariupol in the coming days, the city will be the first major Ukrainian city to change ownership since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which also means that the Russian army can control nearly 80% of Ukraine's Black Sea coastline.
Whether this will prompt russia and Ukraine to compromise or intensify the contradictions between the two sides is still unknown. The only thing that can be confirmed is that the siege of Mariupol, which lasted more than a month, has reduced this beautiful city to rubble, and more than 400,000 Mariupol citizens may become homeless refugees.
As the main commander of the Mariupol Ukrainian army, The life and death of Baranyuk was not only related to the combat ability of the Ukrainian defenders, but also affected the will to resist of the defenders.
At a press conference of the Chinese Foreign Ministry on April 11, spokesman Zhao Lijian said: "China always believes that dialogue and negotiation is the only correct way to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, and supports Russia and Ukraine in overcoming difficulties and continuing peace talks." ”
It is the wish of many people that the Russian and Ukrainian sides reach an early reconciliation and a peaceful return to the city of Mariupol, which has suffered so much.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Qin Hong Text Editor: Lu Xiaochuan Title Image Source: Figureworm Creative Image Editor: Yong Kai
Source: Author: Global People Magazine