Talk:Siege of Mariupol

Additional details

Ukrainian sources said there were 27 tactical battalion formations of Russian troops (27,000 infantry). Also it was a Russian tactical victory (pyrrhic) and Ukrainian strategic victory because they pinned down Russian troops long enough to allow a counteroffensive to retake Kherson and was the main reason the invasion failed along with the battle of Kyiv. It wasn't a "Russian victory" - that's an oversimplification because they had to redeploy troops. It was a stalemate. Also what happened to Misanthropic Division who was also involved (they had about 50 members at their height)? About 315 Azov died but they were the majority of people left by the end of the siege (marines only had about 46 people left and all of them were from the breakaway formation that left Illich, lead by Maj. Volyna). Also, there were some that stayed at the end for further subversive operations from within Mariupol. Even despite massive bombardment, zero logistics and Russia blocking humanitarian routes, most civilians survived or were evacuated. 2603:6080:DB00:2D5F:3206:61C:297E:EE4A (talk) 19:48, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

well the battle of kherson was won by ukraine but that does not change the fact mariupol is under russian occupation. LeoPysmak (talk) 12:38, 3 June 2026 (UTC)

Likely highly inflated civilian death toll.

The Wikipedia article references a couple of articles that have taken "round-figure" estimates of 25,000 killed. The BBC article says 25,000 people (potentially including armed forces), and the Al Jazeera article says 25,000 civilians.

I would lean towards the Human Rights Watch figure or 8,034 excess deaths, presumably including armed forces, potentially even including Russian armed forces:

'To better grasp how many people died, we analyzed satellite imagery, photographs, and videos of five of Mariupol’s cemeteries. We estimate that at least 10,284 people died and were buried in these five cemeteries during the first year of the conflict, though likely many more died. We estimate that around 2,250 people would have died naturally in Mariupol during that time, meaning the city had at least 8,034 excess deaths above a peacetime rate.'

Source: Counting the Dead: Documenting Loss in Mariupol, a Ukrainian City Besieged and Devastated MathewMunro (talk) 17:24, 15 August 2025 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 13 November 2025

Currently the section regarding the explosion at Olinika prison states that there has been no independent verification as to culpability. Given information available as of November 2025 such as the findings of the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights indicating Russian responsibility, and additional independent reports from groups like the Institute for the Study of War indicating that the Russian claim of a Ukrainian HIMARS strike is not supported by visual evidence. Given this information I would like to request the section be edited to reflect the independent conclusion of Russian responsibility.

Sources: (https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ohchr-report-treatment-prisoners-war-and-persons-hors-de-combat-context Page 19, "On 28 July, the guards of the barrack worebullet-proof vests and helmets, which they had not done before and unlike other colony personnel who rarely wore them. POWs interned in different barracks reported that an “Grad” rocket system, which had been placed close to their barracks and near the colony’s fence just before the incident,was firing in a westerly direction away from the colony and covered the sounds of the explosions that killed and injured the POWs.")

(https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/coiukraine/23-10-04-OHCHR-36th-periodic-report-ukraine-en.pdf Page 2 "With respect to the explosions which killed at least 51 Ukrainian POWs and injured at least 139 during the night of 28–29 July 2022 at the penal colony near Olenivka, in Russian-occupied Donetsk region, OHCHR assessed that the incident was not the result of HIMARS rockets launched by Ukrainian armed forces."

(https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-28/ "Kremlin-sponsored news outlet “RIA Novosti” published videos of the detention center, which showed fire damage but not the sort of damage that a HIMARS strike would likely have caused.") TheCatboyIcarus (talk) 14:26, 13 November 2025 (UTC)

 Not done. Nope. We cannot call it Russian/Ukrainian responsibility without reliable sources that relate to the topic. NotJamestack (talk) 17:45, 13 November 2025 (UTC)

A bit late, but I did work the OHCHR report into the relevant subsection. Just-a-can-of-beans (talk) 22:58, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 21 May 2026

Change "On 2 April, Russian forces captured the SBU building in central Mariupol,[196] after which there was no more reported fighting in the area. On 4 April, one Ukrainian battalion surrendered,[197] with Russian officials stating two days later they captured 267 Ukrainian marines from the 503rd Battalion of the Ukrainian Naval Forces.[198] Due to the surrender, the lines between the Ukrainian 36th Separate Marine Brigade and the Azov Regiment had been broken.[197] On 7 April, the DPR announced central Mariupol had been cleared of Ukrainian forces.[199]"

To "On 2 April, Russian forces captured the SBU building in central Mariupol,[196] after which there was no more reported fighting in the area. On 4 April, one Ukrainian battalion surrendered,[197] with Russian officials stating two days later they captured 267 Ukrainian marines from the 501st Battalion of the Ukrainian Naval Forces . Due to the surrender, the lines between the Ukrainian 36th Separate Marine Brigade and the Azov Regiment had been broken.[197] On 7 April, the DPR announced central Mariupol had been cleared of Ukrainian forces.[199]"

The 503rd Battalion was not the one holding the steelworks and the russian claim of surrender is disputed by the Ukrainian govt. as well as the Battalion command staff. One month earlier they were reportedly deployed north of Mariupol meaning they would have to break through the encirclement to then begin to hold Illich however elements may have been present at Illich due to battlefield realities. The 501st Naval Battalion was however in Mariupol and the Illich steelworks and was found to have been decieved into mass surrender by its commanders ~2026-30547-58 (talk) 07:45, 21 May 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: Please make the citations inline with the text. Use the <ref> wiki markup to cite correctly. Hamimh2 (talk) 00:04, 22 May 2026 (UTC)

Should be done correctly now AstolfoSkirt (talk) 07:18, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want made. Especially the 2nd paragraph. And plus, you can't cite Wikipedia! Hamimh2 (talk) 20:30, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

How is the Media Inititative for Human Rights not a reliable source? I will grab additional ones that were deemed reliable previously but that source to me hits every requirement for being reliable. AstolfoSkirt (talk) 21:44, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

Additonal sources have been cited alongside sources I used previously that I still believe fall within the requirements for reliable sources. AstolfoSkirt (talk) 13:43, 4 June 2026 (UTC)

 Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before posting an edit request. NomanPK44 (talk) 18:54, 10 August 2026 (UTC)

References