Mariupol: A Homecoming | RT Documentary The Battle for Mariupol lasted 83 days. It is the primary combat of the special operation in Ukraine. Ukrainian army and nationalists from the Azov battalion tried to turn the city into a stronghold. Azov’s tactics of using civilians as human shields dramatically complicated the combat. They locked the exits from Mariupol, preventing people from evacuating through ‘green corridors’. That led to multiple civilian casualties. Russian soldiers had to take con