11 May 2023
![The ruins of Maryinka with towering slag heaps from local coal mines in the background](/assets/images/pokrovsk/8489583934283785.jpg)
The ruins of Maryinka with towering slag heaps from local coal mines in the background
— Photo by LIBKOS / AP Photo
![The ruins of Maryinka](/assets/images/pokrovsk/2779657437524626.jpg)
Pulverized buildings and shell craters are all that remain of the small eastern Donetsk city of Maryinka on May 11. As part of the Bakhmut-Avdiyivka-Maryinka front line, the city has endured punishing Russian assaults as the Kremlin's forces try to push deeper into the Donbas.
— Photo by LIBKOS / AP Photo
![The ruins of Maryinka](/assets/images/pokrovsk/9636954279984673.jpg)
The city that once had a pre-war population of nearly 10,000 people is now a wasteland of destroyed buildings.
— Photo by LIBKOS / AP Photo
![The ruins of Maryinka](/assets/images/pokrovsk/5393333838993523.jpg)
Located nearly 86 kilometers southwest of Bakhmut - the scene of the bloodiest fighting of the war - both cities have endured relentless and devastating artillery duels that have left behind apocalyptic scenes of destruction.
— Photo by LIBKOS / AP Photo
![The ruins of Maryinka](/assets/images/pokrovsk/9924433787892772.jpg)
Maryinka first saw fighting as far back as 2014, when Russian-backed separatists captured the city. A few months later, Ukrainian forces regained control, though the city was shelled on a regular basis.
— Photo by LIBKOS / AP Photo
![The ruins of Maryinka](/assets/images/pokrovsk/8262746876238525.jpg)
In 2015, fresh battles involving over 1,000 fighters, tanks, and heavy artillery took place in Maryinka.
— Photo by LIBKOS / AP Photo
![The ruins of Maryinka](/assets/images/pokrovsk/9839526468777653.jpg)
On March 17, 2022, new battles for the city began following Russia's full-scale invasion.
— Photo by LIBKOS / AP Photo
![The ruins of Maryinka](/assets/images/pokrovsk/3339829544677455.jpg)
Buildings were purposefully targeted for destruction in order to prevent them from being used as cover.
— Photo by LIBKOS / AP Photo