‘Mariupol won’t give up’: Ukrainians defy Russian invasion threat
Ukrainians rally in the eastern city of Mariupol after Russia recognises the independence of breakaway regions. Mariupol, Ukraine – Waving blue and yellow Ukrainian flags and singing a patriotic military song, hundreds of residents of the once largely pro-Russian city of Mariupol gathered in the central Theatre Square with a defiant message for President Vladimir Putin: Russia is not welcome here. People protesting in front of Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama in Mariupol On Tuesday, as people stopped for pictures next to a sign calling Moscow an aggressor, the possibility of an advance by Russian-backed separatists was a bitter pill to swallow. The port city of nearly 500,000 people in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine was briefly controlled by the rebels in 2014 and has seen significant waves of violence since. “I came to show that we love Ukraine and we don’t want Russian ‘peace’ here,” said Andriy Voytsekhovskyy, 28, a painter and skater. “I think it’s complete nonsense what Pu...