Marinka or Maryinka (Ukrainian: Ма́р'їнка, pronounced [ˈmɑrjinkɐ]) is a small city located in Pokrovsk Raion, Donetsk Oblast (province), Ukraine. The city is on the frontline of the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian War and has suffered damage.[2][3]

Marinka Мар'їнка
City
Our Lady of Kazan Orthodox Cathedral in Marinka
Marinka Show map of Donetsk Oblast Marinka Show map of Ukraine
Coordinates: 47°56′31″N 37°30′13″E
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Donetsk Oblast
Raion	Pokrovsk Raion
Founded	1840s[1]
Population  (2021)
• Total	9,256

Early history

Sometime after the 1775 liquidation of Zaporizhian Sich, lands of Kalmius Palatine were initially passed to the Greek re-settlers.[4] However, according to the general plan of the Aleksandrovsk county of the 1830s, the area of Maryinka and surrounding villages was not colonized.[4] After the final demarcation of the government land, in the 1840s, on territory not colonized by Greeks, former Ukrainian Cossacks and state peasants (see state serf) from various counties of Poltava Governorate and Kharkov Governorate (Little Russia).[4] moved there. After the partition of Poland, at the end of 18th century here were also exiled Polish people from the Kiev and Podolia governorates who also were under a special supervision by the local administration.[4] Unlike the state peasants who used a community land, the exiled Poles were considered as landowners ("odnodvortsy").[4]

By 1859 there were 1,318 people.[4] As a state village, Marinka belonged to the fourth stan of Aleksandrovsk county, Yekaterinoslav Governorate.[4] The village administration consisted of a village senior (head of village), a tax collector, a secretary, and a supervisor.[4]

The city was under German occupation between 1941 and 1943. Having been locked up in the police station, the Jews of the city (and the surrounding villages) were killed in a mass execution by an einsatzgruppen. The site of the massacre is located in a pit near the cemetery.[5]

Russo-Ukrainian War

Starting in mid-April 2014 Russian-backed paramilitaries captured several towns in Donetsk Oblast,[6][7] including Marinka.[8] On August 5, 2014, Ukrainian forces regained control of Marinka.[9] Ukrainian forces involved in the recapture included the Azov Battalion, whose flag flew in the city in early August.[10] In this operation one volunteer fighter was killed (a member of Azov, a Russian-citizen) and 14 wounded (9 in an explosion of a Ukrainian tank due to an anti-tank mine).[11]

The city is shelled on a regular basis, with Ukrainian troops returning fire.[12] Pro-Russian fighters accused Ukrainian troops of using their positions in Marinka to shell militant-controlled Donetsk - a claim denied by the Ukrainian military.[3]

Three people died close to a checkpoint on 10 February 2016 when a minibus while bypassing a queue drove roadside and hit a land mine.[13] (The driver had ignored land mine warning signs.[13])

According to Ukrainian MP Iryna Herashchenko, in September 2016 5,000 people lived in Marinka.[2]

Battle of Marinka

On 3 June 2015, fresh violence returned to the area as pro-Russian combatants launched an offensive on the city involving 1,000 fighters, tanks and heavy artillery.[3][14] They stated they only engaged in defence measures after an assault by the Ukrainian army.[15] By then the town had already been devastated by months of heavy fighting.[3]

According to the BBC, the 3 June 2015 fighting was the heaviest of the war in Donbas since the so-called Minsk II ceasefire was signed on 11 February 2015.[3][16] In the early evening of 3 June 2015, Donetsk People's Republic's Defence Minister Vladimir Kononov and the Ukrainian military confirmed to the OSCE that Marinka was under Ukrainian control.[17] According to OSCE figures, 28 people, including 9 civilians, were killed in Marinka on 3 June 2015.[18]

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

On 17 March 2022, the Russian ministry of defense claimed that forces of the Donetsk People's Republic captured Marinka.[19] On March 30, 2022, State Emergency Service staff put out "dozens of fires" that had started in the town because of white phosphorus munitions attacks by Russian forces.[20] Ukrainian forces claimed to have retaken control of the city on 19 April 2022.[21] On April 26, 2022, another Russian attempt to attack Marinka was repelled by Ukrainian forces, according to the head of Donetsk regional military administration. Over the next few months, most attempts to break through in the Oblast centered on Marinka and it’s neighbor, Avdiivka have failed. [22]

Gallery

• 
  Central part of Maryinka
• 
  World War II memorial
• 
  Administrative building
• 
  Afghan War memorial in city park

References

External links

• Marinka in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
• Christopher Miller, Guns Of August: Fears Of Full-Scale War Return As Casualties Mount In Ukraine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 9 August 2016

На других языках

[de] Marjinka

[ru] Марьинка