The "Siege of Mariupol" lasted for nearly two months. Why is it so difficult to fight in the modern city?
[Global Times Special Correspondent Xiao Dongfeng Liu Yupeng Chen Shan] As of April 18, the Russian army's siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol is coming to an end. The outside world believes that the city may be completely occupied by the Russian army in the next few days.
This will be the first major Ukrainian city to be occupied by the Russian army in the past two months since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Why did the Russian army always avoid siege warfare?
What's so difficult about street fighting in modern cities?
The "Siege of Mariupol" lasted for nearly two months
As Ukraine's largest port in the Azov Sea and one of the most important industrial cities in Ukraine, the importance of Mariupol's strategic location is self-evident.
From the first day of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on February 24, the city, once home to 400,000 people, has been engulfed in war.
The Ukrainian side said that the city was attacked by Russian artillery that day, causing dozens of civilians to be injured.
Then there were rumors that the Russian Marine Corps, under the cover of the Black Sea Fleet, carried out an amphibious landing on the coast of the Sea of Azov near Mariupol; a small advance force of the Russian Army also approached the city for a time, but was repelled by the Ukrainian army.
In the early days of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Russian army launched simultaneous attacks on multiple fronts, resulting in insufficient troops invested in Mariupol. Therefore, it did not launch a siege battle for a long time, but only adopted encirclement tactics.
The Ukrainian side said that the Russian army and Ukrainian militias completely blocked the city on March 2, and then launched intermittent attacks.
On March 13, Mariupol Mayor Boychenko stated that "the Russian army used at least 100 bombs to bomb the city as many as 22 times within 24 hours."
During this period, attempts to evacuate local civilians have failed many times. Ukraine has criticized the Russian army for violating the ceasefire agreement, while Russia has accused the Ukrainian army of using civilians as "human shields".
In mid-March, reinforced Chechen troops also participated in the siege of Mariupol.
On March 18, the Russian army broke into the center of Mariupol and launched a fierce battle with the Ukrainian army for the Azov Steel Plant.
Boychenko admitted on social media in early April that although parts of Mariupol are still under Ukrainian control, Russian troops have penetrated the city and "Ukrainian soldiers have run out of food and clean drinking water."
Western analysts believe that the Ukrainian army, which has run out of ammunition and food, may not be able to continue fighting.
On April 6, the Russian army announced that 267 officers and soldiers of the 503rd Battalion of the 36th Brigade of the Ukrainian Marine Corps had formally surrendered, but the Ukrainian army denied it.
On April 7, the Russian side declared that the main fighting in the central part of Mariupol had ended, and the focus of the fighting had shifted to the port of Mariupol and the Azov Steel Plant in the south.
The Ukrainian army has organized small ships and helicopters to evacuate the "important personnel" trapped in the port area several times, but they have all failed.
On April 10, the Russian army announced that it had completely occupied the Mariupol port area, and 1026 Ukrainian soldiers stationed there, including 162 officers, had surrendered.
However, the Ukrainian side claimed that the 36th Brigade of the Ukrainian Army stationed in the port area successfully broke through and joined the "Azov Battalion" stationed at the Azov Steel Plant.
Since then, the eyes of the world have focused on the Azov Steel Plant, the last fortress of the Ukrainian army in Mariupol.
On April 15, a Ukrainian commander requested reinforcements to "break the Russian siege of Mariupol", adding that "the situation is critical and the fighting is fierce".
On the same day, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stated that the Russian army began to use the Tu-22M3 strategic bomber to carry out "savage carpet bombing" on the positions of the Ukrainian army.
The Russian "Izvestia" said that the Azov Steel Plant is a strong fortress.
It is the oldest black metallurgical plant in Ukraine, established in 1933, with an area of nearly 11 square kilometers.
In the Soviet era, 41 workshops and 80 large workshops were built here.
Today all these facilities have been converted into fortifications, headquarters, warehouses and barracks by the Ukrainian army.
Some of the concrete bunkers are as thick as 3-4 meters, and "conventional strikes do not work". For this reason, the Russian army has mobilized large-caliber self-propelled mortars to participate in the war.
Donetsk leader Denis Pushlin also revealed that there are as many as 6 floors of underground buildings under the ground of the Azov Steel Plant. The Ukrainian army relies on underground passages extending in all directions and can move freely in it.
Western observers believe that unless chemical weapons are used, it is impossible to completely eliminate the Ukrainian army hiding in the underground fortifications in a short period of time.
Russian military political analysis expert Yelanosyan believes that the residential areas near the Azov steel plant have been controlled by the Russian army, and the Ukrainian army can no longer use civilians as "human shields". It is only a matter of time before it is wiped out.
Why the battle for Mariupol has been slow
Why did the Russian army's siege of Mariupol continue for nearly two months and still not end?
Chinese military expert Zhang Xuefeng told the Global Times reporter on the 18th that there may be three reasons behind this.
First of all, from the perspective of the large-scale conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Russia's military use is relatively scattered.
Originally, the total strength of the Russian army was relatively small, and it had to "full bloom" in Ukraine. As a result, there was no military advantage on some fronts.
In addition, due to the lack of troops, the Russian army could not effectively control the battlefield. The entire battlefield was crisscrossed, and the Ukrainian army was able to ambush it more frequently.
Second, urban fortifications are inherently beneficial to defenders.
It can be said that the urban battle is an "equalizer".
Entering the urban environment, if there is no special equipment and special training, it may lead to "the strong are not strong".
There are many high-rise buildings in the city, and these buildings become natural bunkers for the defenders.
The direct line of sight in the city is short, and the range advantage of heavy artillery is difficult to play.
Moreover, the defender usually builds a large number of underground passages and traffic trenches, and takes advantage of the advantages of their own familiar terrain to fight.
The attackers almost have to fight from building to building. Even if a building is captured for a short period of time, it may be occupied by a defender who is familiar with the terrain once it is evacuated.
In the early years, the Russian army lost soldiers in the Chechen War. An important reason was that urban street fighting made the Russian army "unacceptable".
When the Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out, Mariupol was fully prepared for battle.
Not only are the fortifications strong here, but there are also a large number of "Azov Battalion" armed personnel with rich combat experience. Many Ukrainian troops have received strict training from Western military instructors.
In addition, there are Western military personnel here to advise on the city's defense.
Russian military expert Alexei Leonkov said that in urban warfare, it takes more time to prepare for an attack than to defend itself.
When Mariupol intends to seize the building, the Russian army first needs to conduct a careful reconnaissance, and then fight for it one by one, which is the most difficult and time-consuming part of urban warfare.
Third, the Russian military is insufficiently prepared for firepower, especially air strikes.
The 1991 Gulf War lasted 42 days, in which the multinational force carried out 38 consecutive days of air strikes.
In this Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Russian army is advancing simultaneously on the ground and in the air. Due to the lack of precision-guided munitions and the need to take into account the civilians in the city, the Russian army’s air strikes are insufficient, and Ukraine still has heavy firepower such as artillery and individual anti-tank weapons. , causing greater damage to the Russian army.
Fourth, the Ukrainian side is determined to resist.
The main force of the guards in Mariupol City is the "Azov Battalion". They have been fighting all year round and have relatively rich experience. Their will to resist is stronger than that of the Ukrainian regular army.
In addition, the Ukrainian army must have intelligence support from NATO troops behind it. The Russian army is not only fighting a hot war with Ukraine, but also fighting intelligence and information warfare with NATO.
Russian military expert Dmitry Plotnikov said that the Russian army's ineffective attack on Mariupol was largely because neither the Russian army nor the Donetsk armed forces had experience in urban street battles.
Even Russian officers with combat experience in Syria acknowledge that Mariupol's situation is different.
In Syria, although buildings are densely populated, houses have much lower floors.
In addition, heavy fire cannot be used due to the presence of civilians.
The Russian army tried to open humanitarian corridors before the siege began to let the civilians gathered in the city leave, but "the Nazis in Mariupol used civilians as human shields".
The result is that the Russian army's artillery, aircraft and missiles are used much less frequently than the Syrian battlefield.
He said the Azov Battalion had spent weeks building up strong fortifications in the workshops of the Azov steel plant.
"So far, the Russian military command still does not seem ready to carry out a devastating blow."
"We are fighting calmly in urban warfare, trying not to repeat the mistakes of the past and remembering the experience of the first Chechen war," said Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of the Chechen "Oriental" brigade involved in local operations. ."
What lessons can be drawn from the Russian military operations?
The difficulty of the Russian army's attack on Mariupol also gave people inspiration, how to fight the city's tough battle?
Zhang Xuefeng believes that the first thing to do is to use appropriate weapons and equipment.
Traditional tanks and armored vehicles are mainly used in field battles, and of course they can play an important role in cities, but after all, they are not developed for cities.
Due to the limitation of the pitch angle of the artillery, the tank cannot hit the high-rise buildings or the firepower point located in the basement. At the same time, the protection of the side, rear, and top of the tank is relatively weak. If it is attacked in street fighting, the tank is often too strong.
In order to fight against terrorism, the U.S. military has specially developed mine-proof anti-ambush vehicles.
Therefore, the urban battle also requires specialized weapons.
In this conflict between Russia and Ukraine, due to the disadvantage of conventional weapons, Russia had to transfer 240mm mortars to the front line for urban attack.
In addition to focusing on ground weapons, the most impressive thing about this Russia-Ukraine conflict is the huge role played by tiny drones.
Zhang Xuefeng said that in urban battles and street battles, micro and small drones must be used extensively and exclusively.
In this Russia-Ukraine conflict, miniature UAVs and even consumer-grade UAVs have been widely used, and are widely used for reconnaissance and surveillance, laser irradiation guidance, artillery calibration and so on.
Because of their very low cost, they could allow air intelligence support to permeate the squad.
This kind of tiny UAV is not impossible to counteract, and many countries around the world have anti-UAV systems based on various mechanisms.
But this Russia-Ukraine conflict shows that the key is how to detect, detect and counteract the tiny drones that may appear anywhere at any time.
In the future urban combat, such drones will certainly play a greater role.
In addition, use appropriate tactics and conduct specialized street fighting training.
In the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, many Russian tanks were ambushed and destroyed in the city. One of the important reasons was the poor coordination between infantry and tanks, and sometimes even tanks went deep alone.
The U.S. military has specially built bases for urban warfare, and has improved the urban warfare capabilities of ground troops through rotational training.
In fact, it is not only necessary to improve the skills of the troops through this targeted training, but also to test whether the organization and equipment are suitable for street fighting, and to improve and optimize accordingly.
Russian military expert Dmitry Boltenkov said that the Russian army's siege of Mariupol has another successful experience - completely cutting off its external supply channels.
He said that even if the Russian army did not launch a fierce attack, the opponent was consuming ammunition every hour, but because of the interruption of foreign aid supplies, there was nothing to replenish.
"Ukrainian soldiers have run out of grenades, an essential tool in urban combat, and have no more food, ammunition and anti-tank weapons to replenish. It's doomed them."