PARIS — As Russia pushes deep into
Ukraine,
with a vast armored column closing on the capital Kyiv, we look at the key
cities its forces are targeting.
اضافة اعلان
Kyiv
Cradle of both modern
Russia and Ukraine and
of Slavic orthodoxy, Kyiv is known for the golden domes of its ancient churches
and monasteries.
Both countries trace their origins to the
medieval Kievan Rus empire which was centered on the city.
The capital of independent Ukraine since
1991, the city of 2.9 million people was long known by its Russian name Kiev.
It celebrated its 1,500th anniversary in
2001 and its 16th-century Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery as well as the
cathedral of Saint Sophia both figure on
UNESCO's World Heritage list.
Kyiv's vast central Independence Square,
popularly known as Maidan, became the center of the "Orange
Revolution" as well as the long pro-European uprising of 2014 that sparked
Russia's annexation of
Crimea.
Kharkiv
Ukraine's second city is a predominantly
Russian-speaking tech hub of 1.4 million inhabitants just 40km from the Russian
border.
Heavily bombarded in recent days by
Russian forces, it suffered badly in World War II when two major tank battles were
fought around it.
Since 2014 it has become home to hundreds of
thousands of people fleeing fighting between government forces and
Russian-backed rebels in the nearby eastern Donbas region.
Mariupol
The key port city of Mariupol on the
Sea of Azov has been under attack since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Mariupol was briefly occupied by the
Russian-backed separatists from
Donetsk at the start of the uprising against
Kiev in 2014 before being retaken by Ukrainian forces.
The southeastern city of 441,000 people lies
between territory held by the separatists and the Crimean Peninsula, which was
annexed by
Moscow in 2014.
Russian forces claimed to have linked up
with separatists Tuesday.
Berdyansk
The Russian army claimed to have the port
of
Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov Monday after advancing from Crimea. The resort city with 115,000 inhabitants is famed for its beaches and mud baths, welcoming more
than half a million tourists a year.
It is only 84km along the coast from
Mariupol.
Kherson
Kherson — which is being besieged by Russian
forces from Crimea — is a strategic port on the west bank of the Dnieper River
which controls the approaches to the Crimean peninsula.
Formerly the base of the Russian Black Sea
Fleet, its fall would open the way to Odessa in the west, which has a majority
Russian speaking population, and the borders with NATO-member Romania and
Moldova. A shipbuilding city, it has a population of 287,000 people.
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