At the Edge of the Abyss. The battle for Mariupol through the eyes of a witness. (War in Ukraine)

March 2022. Mariupol must be taken. The “Somali“ battalion of the Donetsk People’s Republic is part of a force sent to assault the fortified city. As they approach Mariupol, little do they grasp what would happen to the city over the coming weeks, the sheer scale of the catastrophe. What hardships would befall the civilians? And who among the soldiers would see it through to the end, alive? For two months a strike team led by an officer with the codename “Sparrow“ / “Vorobey“ fought in close quarters combat, building to building and street after street, forcing a numerically superior foe to retreat into the Azovstal complex, a gigantic metallurgical factory dominating the city. It would become a fortress for the Ukrainian “Azov“ battalion. (Note added May 27: And the place of their eventual surrender!) Maxim Fadeed was there on the frontlines with the forward assault teams of the “Somali“ battalion. He spent four weeks in the fi