UHHRU Documentation Center continues to chronicle the hybrid armed conflict in Ukraine using the example of Donbas cities. The series of analytical reports is supplemented with the story of Mariinka.

Story of a City. Mariinka: In the Firing Line /Melamory Maris, editors – О. Bida and O. Martynenko
/ Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union. — К., 2018. – 20 p.

Prior to the evens of 2014, Mariinka had been known in Ukraine for its dairy plant Laktys, tire repair factory and food processing factory. Located on the river Osykova, the city borders the western outskirts of Donetsk and is the center of the eponymous Mariinskyi Rayon. The population of 9829 is serviced by 2 general education schools, A. Makarenko boarding school No. 3, and preschool educational institution “Golden Key”. The inter-regional highway between Donetsk and Zaporizhia runs by the city.

It is in 2014-2015 that Mariinka became truly famous. Back then, almost simultaneously with the takeover of Donetsk by terrorists, Mariinka became a point of interest of illegal armed groups. In terms of tactics, the city provides a perfect foothold for the takeover of Kurakhove, as well as opens a path toward Zaporizhia, Mariupol and the entire Azov front. As a result, over the past 4 years, the city had been taken by separatists and then liberated by force by the Ukrainian army several times. The thousands of people living there had been essentially living under fire during all this time.

In 2015, after the signing of the Minsk agreements, Mariinka found itself in the “gray zone”, which adversely affected the city and its residents. At the end of the year, when the checkpoint was moved a few kilometers away from Mariinka, the city finally returned under control of the Ukrainian government.

See the report here

Summary in English

This was made possible thanks to the generous support of the American people provided through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) within the Human Rights in Action project implemented by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.

The views and interpretations presented in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the U.S. Government. The authors and UHHRU bear sole responsibility for the contents of the publication.

The American people, through USAID, has been providing economic and humanitarian assistance around the world for more than 55 years. In Ukraine, USAID provides assistance in such areas as economic development, democracy and governance, healthcare and social sector.

Since 1992, the United States Agency for International Development has provided Ukraine with technical and humanitarian assistance worth 1.8 billion dollars. Learn more about USAID programs in Ukraine on USAID official website https://www.usaid.gov/uk/ukraine and Facebook page www.facebook.com/USAIDUkraine.