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Mariupol a city of mixed emotions after rebels routed

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Inside the grand pre-revolutionary mansion that had served as a barracks for separatist fighters in Mariupol, a full bowl of soup still lying on the table gave an indication of the haste with which they had left.

Elsewhere too, there were signs of a quick exit. Chunks of the wall were missing. Glass from broken windows littered the floor alongside cigarettes and copies of the rebel newspaper Novorossiya.

The rebels had spent weeks in the building, constructing formidable barricades of concrete blocks and sandbags on the roads surrounding it. But the fortifications were not enough when, in the early hours of Friday morning, a battalion of special forces sent by the Ukrainian government routed the fighters from their stronghold.

Alexei, 21, who lives nearby, said he watched as several hundred Ukrainian special forces from the Azov battalion, backed up by snipers, had attacked the rebels.

A boy sits on a barricade to be demolished outside the headquarters of separatist militias of the se...
A boy sits on a barricade to be demolished outside the headquarters of separatist militias of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on June 13, 2014
Daniel Mihailescu, AFP

"They were shooting machine guns and Kalashnikovs and there were snipers on the roofs," said Alexei, a welder.

Residents were struck by fear, he said, and no one knew what was going on. Local television did not broadcast any information about the attack until around 7am, when the battle was over.

"It was very loud. It lasted more than five hours," said another resident, a 34-year-old metalworker also named Alexei.

Mariupol, a bustling port city of more than half a million people, has wavered between rebel and Kiev control for weeks and was the scene of pitched battles on May 9 that killed more than a dozen people.

It was a strategic town for the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic -- the territory claimed by separatists as their own.

A man stands next to a burned armored military vehicle belonging to the self-proclaimed
A man stands next to a burned armored military vehicle belonging to the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" army outside the headquarters of separatist militias in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on June 13, 2014
Daniel Mihailescu, AFP

Nearby houses still show signs of the battle. Some are marked with bullets holes, in others the windows are shattered.

As workers dismantled the barricades, loading sandbags onto tractors to be taken away, 21-year-old Alexei looked on.

"Traitors! Traitors to Mariupol!" he shouted.

"They came to clean up for money," he added with contempt.

"All the rebels were local, I knew most of them," he said, adding that local residents had supported the rebels, bringing them food and medicine.

- Mixed emotions -

With the clean-up well under way here in the centre of the battle between Kiev and eastern separatists, there were mixed emotions on the streets.

Workers from two Mariupol metal plants owned by billionaire tycoon Rinat Akhmetov -- who opposes the separatists -- had been drafted in to clear up the barricades, still in their work uniforms. They were being directed by by police.

One worker who declined to give his name said that they had been "forced" to turn up.

"All the people supported [the rebels]," he said.

But another, Yury, said he was happy to to see the end of the rebel occupation.

"Finally we can breathe freely," he said. "Everyone is tired of the rampant banditry on our streets."

There were others, too, who craved a return to normal.

Watching the clean-up with a group of friends, a local man named Rodion said he thought Ukrainian soldiers "did the right thing" by raiding the rebel hideout. "Mariupol is a free city. We hope that it's already the end."

One local policeman, displaying a grudging sense of acceptance, gave a more nuanced view. "It was a good idea," he said of the rebel republic, "but they didn't manage to carry it through."

Inside the grand pre-revolutionary mansion that had served as a barracks for separatist fighters in Mariupol, a full bowl of soup still lying on the table gave an indication of the haste with which they had left.

Elsewhere too, there were signs of a quick exit. Chunks of the wall were missing. Glass from broken windows littered the floor alongside cigarettes and copies of the rebel newspaper Novorossiya.

The rebels had spent weeks in the building, constructing formidable barricades of concrete blocks and sandbags on the roads surrounding it. But the fortifications were not enough when, in the early hours of Friday morning, a battalion of special forces sent by the Ukrainian government routed the fighters from their stronghold.

Alexei, 21, who lives nearby, said he watched as several hundred Ukrainian special forces from the Azov battalion, backed up by snipers, had attacked the rebels.

A boy sits on a barricade to be demolished outside the headquarters of separatist militias of the se...

A boy sits on a barricade to be demolished outside the headquarters of separatist militias of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People's Republic” in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on June 13, 2014
Daniel Mihailescu, AFP

“They were shooting machine guns and Kalashnikovs and there were snipers on the roofs,” said Alexei, a welder.

Residents were struck by fear, he said, and no one knew what was going on. Local television did not broadcast any information about the attack until around 7am, when the battle was over.

“It was very loud. It lasted more than five hours,” said another resident, a 34-year-old metalworker also named Alexei.

Mariupol, a bustling port city of more than half a million people, has wavered between rebel and Kiev control for weeks and was the scene of pitched battles on May 9 that killed more than a dozen people.

It was a strategic town for the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic — the territory claimed by separatists as their own.

A man stands next to a burned armored military vehicle belonging to the self-proclaimed

A man stands next to a burned armored military vehicle belonging to the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People's Republic” army outside the headquarters of separatist militias in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on June 13, 2014
Daniel Mihailescu, AFP

Nearby houses still show signs of the battle. Some are marked with bullets holes, in others the windows are shattered.

As workers dismantled the barricades, loading sandbags onto tractors to be taken away, 21-year-old Alexei looked on.

“Traitors! Traitors to Mariupol!” he shouted.

“They came to clean up for money,” he added with contempt.

“All the rebels were local, I knew most of them,” he said, adding that local residents had supported the rebels, bringing them food and medicine.

– Mixed emotions –

With the clean-up well under way here in the centre of the battle between Kiev and eastern separatists, there were mixed emotions on the streets.

Workers from two Mariupol metal plants owned by billionaire tycoon Rinat Akhmetov — who opposes the separatists — had been drafted in to clear up the barricades, still in their work uniforms. They were being directed by by police.

One worker who declined to give his name said that they had been “forced” to turn up.

“All the people supported [the rebels],” he said.

But another, Yury, said he was happy to to see the end of the rebel occupation.

“Finally we can breathe freely,” he said. “Everyone is tired of the rampant banditry on our streets.”

There were others, too, who craved a return to normal.

Watching the clean-up with a group of friends, a local man named Rodion said he thought Ukrainian soldiers “did the right thing” by raiding the rebel hideout. “Mariupol is a free city. We hope that it’s already the end.”

One local policeman, displaying a grudging sense of acceptance, gave a more nuanced view. “It was a good idea,” he said of the rebel republic, “but they didn’t manage to carry it through.”

AFP
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With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

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