Azov Coast Residents Dig Defense Trenches Amid Tensions With Russia

Looking at the thick fog settling over the Sea of ​​Azov, a Ukrainian soldier in the port city of Mariupol worries that the weather will make it harder to observe the "opponent", according toAFP.

His unit is on high alert after a confrontation between Ukrainian and Russian ships last weekend in the Kerch Strait, which connects the Azov Sea with the Black Sea. “Whenever we receive the order, we are ready to repel an attack and defend our positions,” said the 26-year-old, nicknamed Kit.

"The coast guard patrols are the first line of defense. If their position is lost, we will be affected," he said.

On November 25, Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian ships. Kiev and its Western allies demanded that Moscow release the ships and their crews. “Our ships were moving peacefully to Mariupol when they were attacked,” Kit said. “We are all on alert.”

If tensions between Ukraine and Russia continue, Mariupol could find itself on the front line. The industrial city has already seen war, having been controlled by pro-Russian separatists during a conflict with government forces in 2014. Government forces retook it within days, and it is the only major city in southeastern Ukraine under Kiev's control.

In 2015, 31 people were killed in shelling of Mariupol and 100 others were injured. Now the port city is just 10 km from the line that separates government-held territory from rebel-held areas.

Children digging trenches

In Chervone, a village south of Mariupol, about 60 people are digging trenches, explaining that they are doing so to protect the city from a Russian attack. They are all members of a volunteer centre that helps disadvantaged children. The children are also mobilised to help the adults.

“Just a few hundred meters from here is where our children and family live, and there is also a center to help refugees,” said pastor Gennady Mokhenko.

"In case of a Russian attack from the sea, the trenches would turn into a front line in just a few minutes," he said. "I hope this will never happen."

One of the centre's former students, Bohdan Petlitsky, 22, said he was ready to give up his job as a firefighter to join the army. "If there is an attack, I will be ready to take up arms to defend Ukraine and Mariupol," he said.

However, experts say that although Russia's shooting and capturing of Ukrainian warships significantly escalated tensions between the two countries, it is likely to stop at a war of words between the two sides and will not spark any military adventures or outside intervention.

And not everyone is worried.

"Even if Russian paratroopers come here, it won't be a bad thing. I don't think anything serious will happen," said Mykola, 52, who was working on a sports field on the shore of the Sea of ​​Azov. "We are brothers."