The Kyiv Post examines potential Ukrainian-held targets for attack by Russian forces and their proxies.
Shyrokyne, home to 1,000 citizens, is a village in Donetsk Oblast, located 20 kilometers east of Mariupol. Seized by Ukrainian forces just before the cease-fire, it was shelled constantly on Feb. 18, killing at least one soldier.
The strategic Azov Sea port city of Mariupol, home to 450,000 citizens, is the second largest city in Donetsk Oblast. According to Ukraine’s military, separatist and Russian forces are concentrating their forces in Novoazovsk, a border town located just 40 kilometers from Mariupol. Some 12 Grad missile launchers were spotted close to Mariupol on Feb. 18, according to the Ukrainian Mariupol Defense group.
The city of Artemivsk, with a population of 77,620 citizens, is the only one in Donetsk Oblast with a large military base and ammunition supplies, according to Ivan Yakubets, Ukraine’s airborne forces commander from 1998 to 2005.
Stanytsia Luhanska, with a pre-war population of 14,543 citizens, is a village in Luhansk Oblast. It has been attacked by separatists several times since the announcement of a cease-fire. The village’s electricity supply has been cut. Stanytsia Luhanska is home to one of just two colonies of the Don Cossacks.
Volnovakha, home to 24,300 citizens, serves as strategic railway junction and also connects the cities of Sloviansk and Mariupol by road.
Shchastia, with a pre-war population of 12 629 citizens, is home to the large Luhanskaya powerplant.
