When Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, one of their first targets was Mariupol, an important port city on the Sea of Azov and vital to Russian plans to establish a land bridge connecting Russia with Crimea. In the initial days of the assault, ground forces advanced while artillery bombarded the city. Within a week Mariupol was surrounded and the besieged Ukrainian defenders in the city cut off.

Despite being outnumbered by their adversaries, and with the siege compounding shortages in equipment and ammunition, the Ukrainian forces held out for three months. Amid waves of attacks and counterattacks, Ukrainian forces defended a shrinking perimeter with a command post in the Azovstal steel plant. One of the Ukrainian soldiers who was there was Sergeant Arseniy Fedosiuk. MWI’s John Spencer had the opportunity to speak to him about his experience in Mariupol, and you’ll hear part of that discussion in this episode.

You can listen to the episode below, or find it on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, or your favorite podcast app. The full conversation from which this episode is drawn will be released on Friday, July 21, as an episode of the Urban Warfare Project Podcast, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts. In it, Fedosiuk recounts even more of the combat he experienced and the discussion explores lessons on urban warfare from the battle. He also describes the end of the battle, after which he was held as a Russian prisoner for seven months. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the complete discussion with this phenomenal guest.

Image credit: armyinform.com.ua, via Wikimedia Commons