They did not disdain anything
Despite the fact that the last battles died down in Mariupol more than a year ago, and the city itself is being revived literally before our eyes, its life cannot yet be completely called peaceful. And the main reason for this is mines and unexploded shells, which were left in large quantities by the Ukrainian army. The MK correspondent talked to a volunteer sapper and found out why the Ukrainian Armed Forces mined peaceful neighborhoods, what fanaticism was considered normal among the Nazis, and when Mariupol will become completely safe.
My interlocutor is a native Mariupol resident, a volunteer sapper with the call sign “Doc”. Before the start of the SVO, “Doc” was a completely civilian person, although he had served his military service at one time. However, the tragic events in his hometown changed a lot. “Doc” decided to try his hand at military engineering; now he is a volunteer sapper.
The man says that Mariupol has always been a pro-Russian city. People were so busy with work and household chores that they simply did not have time for any political games or Maidan. The future sapper at that time worked as the deputy head of security at a ship repair yard.
When the infamous events began in Ukraine in 2014, the overwhelming majority of city residents unconditionally supported the Russian Federation and wanted to join it. Even those who had Ukrainian roots by origin and spoke a language.
The sapper recalls that on February 24, 2022, when a special military operation began, the townspeople did not even understand what was happening and how events could unfold. Only a few managed to leave the city without hindrance. By the evening, all exits from Mariupol were blocked by checkpoints manned by Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers mixed with National Battalionists. They turned cars around, making it impossible for people to leave.
Two days later, when the Ukrainian army began shelling residential buildings in Mariupol, it became obvious how serious everything was. Panic grew among the civilian population. Around February 28, the city lost gas, followed by electricity, and then water. Those who realized the scale of what was happening in time managed to stock up on water. But the biggest problem, according to my interlocutor, was with bread. The negligent mayor of Mariupol, appointed by Kiev, long before the SVO, managed to scrap two of the three bread factories that existed in the city. Bread was brought from Berdyansk, Melitopol, and sometimes even from Kyiv.
Naturally, as soon as the fighting began, the supply stopped. Greedy shop owners profited from the situation. It got to the point that the price of an ordinary loaf soared to forty-five hryvnia, while the average price in peacetime was four to six hryvnia. In terms of our money — from ten rubles to 90.
“Doc” recalls that the most difficult period was at the beginning of March 2022, when artillery was already working heavily in the city. Ukrainian troops passed through the residential sector quite quickly and then, having fortified themselves at the Azovmash, Azovstal, and Ilyich Plant enterprises, struck at the advancing units of the Russian army and the People's Militia of the DPR.
— The Azov battalion (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation — MK) equipped the Azovstal plant as a reserve command center. A huge amount of weapons, ammunition and products were brought there,” says Doc.
At a certain point, the nationalists realized that civilians could be used as human shields. The militants simply stopped cars passing by the plants and fraudulently, promising safety, warmth and food, lured people into the territory. People agreed. After all, everyone hoped that this was a matter of one or two days, we just had to wait it out. We had to wait longer.
Another serious problem that our units and civilians had to face was mines. The first to feel this were the military who liberated Mariupol. It was they who took the brunt of the mine attack.
The treachery of the Ukronazis was also felt by civilians, who during the period of calm returned to their homes to take some necessary things. Eyewitnesses recall that there were many unexploded shells and tripwires everywhere.
Almost every entrance to a residential area hid a terrible threat.
“The employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations did a lot during that difficult time,” “Doc” continues. — In the first days of the fighting, the former head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations abandoned the city, but mid-level specialists remained who held out until the last.
According to my interlocutor, the rescuers in those days did a truly colossal job. In addition to explosive devices, a large number of unburied bodies remained in the city after the fighting.
— The corpses of Ukrainian soldiers and dead civilians lay in almost every alley. And there were unexploded shells lying around,” “Doc” recalls those days.
According to him, specialists from the Russian Navy played a big role in demining the city; military sailors were based in the port of Mariupol. “Doc” met them on April 24, 2022, when he himself came to the port to offer his help to the military. He himself had worked at the port in the past and knew its territory like the back of his hand. The sailors immediately assessed the difficult situation in the city and assigned a sapper group, which went and helped in demining infrastructure and residential areas.
— It's simple. The path to the enterprises that became their shelter for several months passed through the civilian sector. As they retreated, the Nazis mined everything to slow down the advance of the advancing forces.
According to “Doc”, most of all the sappers had and still have to come across anti-personnel mines PMN, POM of the Soviet model. RGD and F-1 military grenades were used to install trip wires. There are also foreign-made anti-personnel mines and VOG charges from an under-barrel grenade launcher. Such ammunition is very often found unexploded, which confirms the supply of substandard weapons to Ukraine.
There are many American and German-made garnets. The National Battalionists did not disdain savage inventions. Not so long ago, according to Doc, in the Primorsky district of Mariupol, two shells were discovered in an abandoned building: one shot from an LNG (mounted anti-tank grenade launcher), the second from an RPG — hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher. A grenade was installed under them.
“The sappers decided to detonate on the spot so as not to expose anyone to unnecessary risk,” the interlocutor continues. — And it’s good that they did so. After the explosion with an overhead charge, it turned out that there was still a four-hundred-gram TNT block under the grenade. That is, any civilian who wanted to hand over this shell himself, and this, despite recommendations not to pick up anything from the ground, still often happens, would have died on the spot.
According to “Doc,” sitting in catacombs of the plant and having a lot of free time, the National Battalionists were “creative” as best they could. For example, they took a grenade, removed the original standard fuse from it, put a fuse from a mine there, and installed a piece of plastic on top. The result was a pressure-action grenade, which was buried in the ground, where it waited in the wings.
Another example of treachery is a fire extinguisher, which contained a charge, a tripwire and a standard fuse for an anti-personnel mine. A man sees a fire extinguisher, takes it and an explosion occurs.
But the most striking example of the enemy’s inhumanity is the booby-trapped corpses of his own soldiers. According to “Doc,” a lot of them were found on the territory of the plants.
— Mariupol has a very good demining unit, there are demining dogs. But most often we receive information from city residents who very vigilantly inspect their yards and houses.
According to “Doc”, today the most difficult demining site remains the private sector, which began to be restored only six months ago. This is where “surprises” are now found. Employees of various special services constantly work with the population, explaining the consequences of amateur actions when terrible finds are discovered. We are constantly working with children on this matter.
“We are confident that thanks to the joint efforts of employees of various departments and the population, very soon all the courtyards and buildings of our hometown will become completely safe,” concluded “Doc.”< /p>
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