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Mariupol would be vital to the economy of any state or autonomous entity that rebels might establish in eastern Ukraine. With a population of 460,000 it is the second-largest city in the Donetsk region and the centre of eastern Ukraine’s metallurgical industry. Much of the coal mined in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions has traditionally gone to fuel the country’s two largest steel-making plants in Mariupol, or has been exported via Mariupol port, the largest in eastern Ukraine.

Many in the city believe that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, wants to create a land corridor to annexed Crimea, which would require conquering not only Mariupol, but also wide swaths of the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, which have not yet seen large movements of pro-Russia forces.

Mariupol residents say the local population is evenly split between those who support Kiev and those who would like to join the breakaway Donetsk people’s republic. The pro-Russia side briefly held sway over Mariupol shortly after the start of the conflict, before Kiev’s forces drove them out in an operation in May.

Pro-Russia forces have held the coastal town of Novoazovsk, about 20 miles east of Mariupol and less than 10 from the Russian border, since August.

Mariupol has been steeling itself against attack since, building fortifications, setting explosives on bridges and mining the harbour.

Clashes between pro-Russia and Ukrainian forces have been increasing in the area since the ceasefire. The epicentre of the fighting has been the town of Shyrokyne, which by some estimates has been three-quarters destroyed by frequent shelling.