To cut off Ukraine from the Black Sea coast which is the vital link for international trade, Russia is gradually taking control over this region to cut off that country completely cut off.

Russian forces are moving closer to the 900 km strategically important stretch from Odessa to Luhansk. By the end of Day 11, Russian troops had already taken over two important cities Mariupol and Kherson, ensuring control of the southern part of Ukraine’s Black Sea Coast. russia ukraine crisis, black sea, international trade, Russian troops,

Sequence

On Sunday, the strategic port of Kherson, on the Dnieper River near the Black Sea was the first to fall to the Russian forces and this was followed by the fall of the port city of Mariupol.

Once Kherson was captured, the Russian forces started pushing westward – Odessa.  Once Odessa is taken, this will mean that Ukraine is cut off from the rest of the shipping world and most importantly the Black Sea Coast.

Russian ground forces as well naval forces have now gathered offshore near Mariupol and are gradually attempting to take over the port city of Mariupol. This has raised fears of amphibious attacks.

More about Mariupol

This port city lies on the Sea of Azov and it is the most vital stretch of the terrain which the Russian forces are wanting to capture, based on the reports in the public domain.

Russia had announced a temporary ceasefire at Mariupol and neighbouring Volnovakha. This ceasefire was announced in an effort to help the local residents to evacuate. However, the ceasefire could not last long as the firing kept going on and eventually it failed.

According to the reports, Ukrainian officials claimed that the firing and airstrikes from the Russian side had prevented the locals from moving out of the city, while Russian maintained that all their efforts were sabotaged by the Ukrainian side.

If the ceasefire had not failed then the residents could have easily moved to adjoining countries like Slovakia, Romania, Poland and other countries in the neghbourhood.

Luhansk region

In this region, the Russian troops are taking over the towns of Lysychansk, Severodonetsk, and Popasna. Once it succeeds in taking over this stretch, Russia will move forward towards central Ukraine and up to north to Kyiv from three directions.

Russia is launching an advance from Crimea in southern Ukraine and this has been a major big tactical advantage for Moscow, as Crimea has been under the Russian occupation since 2014.

As has been reported earlier by Financial Express Online, Donetsk and Luhansk are located in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

Historical Fact

The stretch from Odessa to Luhansk is 900 km long and has been the centre of pitched battles in the 18th century also. Historically this area has been controlled by the Ottoman Empire before Russia took control. And this was then named Novorossiya (New Russia), and after the fall of the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1991, it went back to Ukraine.

Ground situation

According to reports citing the Ukrainian officials, the Russian forces have been launching artillery and missiles attacks as well as dropping bombs across the country.

“Ukrainian forces were holding key cities in the central and southeastern part of the country, while the Russians were trying to block and keep encircled, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Sumy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been quoted as saying.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich has said that the forces of his country were defending Odessa, which is the biggest port city from the Russian ships.