The final stage of the defense of Mariupol unfolded between May 18 and 20, 2022. For nearly three months, fighters of the “Azov” Regiment, the 36th Marine Brigade, and units of the Ukrainian Navy, State Border Guard Service, National Police, National Guard, and Air Force defended the besieged city despite complete encirclement and overwhelming Russian superiority in manpower, air power, and firepower.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. According to some estimates, between 3,500 and 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers, police officers, and volunteers defended Mariupol against more than 20,000 Russian troops backed by full air support. Failing to capture the city quickly, Russian forces began systematically bombing residential areas, leveling entire districts and killing an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 civilians. On May 16, the evacuation of Mariupol’s defenders from their final stronghold – the sprawling Azovstal steel plant – into Russian captivity began under a preliminary agreement. Russian forces had failed to seize the complex, but mounting numbers of wounded troops, dwindling medical supplies, and an order from Kyiv to preserve the lives of the defending troops forced the remaining units to lay down their arms. Among them was a fighter with the call sign “SP,” an officer and deputy company commander who had lived in Mariupol long before Russia’s full-scale invasion and joined the city’s defense on the first day of Russia’s assault.