"Despite Russian forces having encircled Mariupol for over ten weeks, staunch Ukrainian resistance delayed Russia’s ability to gain full control over the city. This frustrated its early attempts to capture a key city and inflicted costly personnel losses amongst Russian forces," the UK’s Ministry of Defence posted on Twitter.
As noted, in attempting to overcome Ukrainian resistance, Russia had made significant use of “auxiliary personnel”, including several thousand Chechen fighters primarily concentrated in Mariupol and Luhansk sectors.
Read also: Evacuation of Ukrainian defenders from Azovstal plant"The combat deployment of such disparate personnel demonstrates Russia's significant resourcing problems in Ukraine and is likely contributing to a disunited command which continues to hamper Russia's operations," the report reads.
As reported, Mariupol experiences one of the biggest humanitarian catastrophes caused by Russia's aggression. Russian invaders have destroyed almost all infrastructure facilities and housing, blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Read also: Reznikov: Mariupol defenders made it possible to push back Russian troops around KyivMariupol mayor earlier said that up to 20,000 civilians had died in the city since the Russian invasion. Currently, about 100,000 civilians stay in blocked Mariupol. Mariupol has no energy, water and gas supply.
