Photo by Dmytro Kozatsky | The Azovstal plant, Mariupol. May 7, 2022 | A Ukrainian soldier smokes during a lull in the fighting at the Azovstal steelworks.
Mariupol, a port city of about 400,000 people, was a key strategic target for Russia, because seizing it would allow Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine to join forces with troops in Crimea, Ukraine’s southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.