According to an advisor to Mariupol’s mayor, the Ukrainian resistance forces employed cyanide and pesticides to poison 17 Russian military officers during a celebration on Russian Navy Day in the southern Ukrainian port city.
Tragically, two officers lost their lives, while the remaining 15 were rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
Mariupol was occupied by Russian military forces in the spring of 2022 following a devastating siege that resulted in the deaths of numerous civilians.
As a result, city officials fled, and a Russian puppet government took over. The Kremlin has tried to present the city’s reconstruction as a success story, with President Vladimir Putin even visiting in February to inspect a new apartment complex.
The city has now become a significant stronghold for the Russian military, defending the territories they seized in southern Ukraine from Ukrainian counteroffensives.
Within Mariupol, a network of Ukrainian resistance fighters operates, comprising ordinary civilians who resist the Russian occupation.
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These brave civilians have adopted the symbol “Ї” to represent their defiance against the Russian occupiers, even though this letter does not exist in the Russian alphabet.
The resistance movement in the city has claimed responsibility for other attacks, including an incident last October where they set fire to a building housing Russian military personnel.
The main mission of the Ukrainian resistance is to gather intelligence on the Russian military and aid Ukrainian forces in targeting Russian positions, as highlighted in a report by the UK think tank, The Royal United Services Institute.
It is worth noting that direct attacks on Russian forces like the poisoning incident reported by Andriushchenko are uncommon, as they often require specialized training.
Despite facing significant challenges, the Ukrainian resistance continues its courageous efforts to protect their homeland.
