title: James Acaster

text: Acaster began performing stand-up comedy in 2008. In 2009, he performed in a show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with fellow comedians Josh Widdicombe and Nick Helm. In 2010 and 2011 he supported Josie Long and Milton Jones on tour respectively.


title: James Acaster

text: In 2011 he also appeared on "Russell Howard's Good News Extra" and "Dave's" "One Night Stand", and performed his first solo show at the Edinburgh Festival, "Amongst Other Things""," which he toured across the UK the following year. Acaster appeared in "Australia Versus," in addition to Chris Addison's E4 programme "Show and Tell," and was the co-host of "My First Gig" on Resonance FM radio.


title: James Acaster

text: Acaster's 2012 Edinburgh show was called "Prompt". It received a nomination from the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards for the best comedy show at the festival in 2012.


title: James Acaster

text: Acaster began appearing on his friend Josh Widdicombe's radio programme on XFM in 2012, initially being asked to share a story about a strange situation he had got himself into in the past. His first story proved popular enough that he was asked to continue sharing a story each week. These stories, dubbed "scrapes" by Josh and later "classic scrapes" by the programme's listeners, became a recurring segment known as 'James Acaster's Classic Scrapes'. Acaster's stories included going line dancing with his brother on Valentine's day, inadvertently scaring the actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje in a Chiquito restaurant, and later being tormented by a friend's son in the form of pranks involving cabbage.


title: James Acaster

text: Acaster performed "Prompt" at 14 venues in England and Wales between January and March 2013, after which he appeared at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. He won the New Zealand Comedy Guild's best international act award in December 2013.


title: James Acaster

text: Acaster's 2013 Edinburgh show "Lawnmower" was staged at the Pleasance Courtyard. It was nominated for the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award 2013 for the best comedy show. In September 2013, he made his first appearance on the BBC musical comedy panel show "Never Mind the Buzzcocks". He completed his UK tour of "Lawnmower" at a hometown gig in Kettering on 30 November 2013.


title: James Acaster

text: Acaster starred in various segments of radio, including the half-hour programme "James Acaster's Findings – Bread" for BBC Radio 4, also featuring Nathaniel Metcalfe and Bryony Hannah. A series of four episodes of "James Acaster's Findings" was recorded in June and July 2014. The first of these episodes was broadcast on 5 November 2014. Acaster also regularly appeared on Josh Widdicombe's XFM radio show, where he was a fan favourite due to a segment involving anecdotes of his known as "classic scrapes" (most of which were subsequently compiled in a book in 2017). His series "Sweet Home Ketteringa" (2014) follows him on a journey of discovery around his hometown, exploring its history and nascent rivalries with proximal town "Corby", sparked by a Primark store opening in the latter town.


title: James Acaster

text: Acaster's 2014 Edinburgh show was called "Recognise". The show was previewed in April and May in Australia and New Zealand, where it won the New Zealand International Comedy Festival Award for Best International Show. "Recognise" was again nominated for the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award 2014 for the best comedy show – the third time in a row for Acaster. It was performed at over 30 British venues during autumn 2014, including a two-week run at the Soho Theatre in December due to the success of the October dates at the same venue.


title: James Acaster

text: Acaster's 2015 Edinburgh show was called "Represent", again performed at the Pleasance Courtyard. It earned Acaster his 4th consecutive Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination for Best Show, becoming the second artist to do so after Al Murray. The UK tour of this show ran from October to December 2015, ending at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue. Due to the show's success, Acaster took "Represent" to the Soho Theatre for a week-long run in March 2016.


title: James Acaster

text: Acaster's 2016 show was called "Reset". It was previewed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in Auckland and Wellington, both in April/May 2016, then at the Udderbelly Festival in June 2016, and finally at The Tringe Festival in Tring in July. Acaster performed this show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2016, where he became the first comedian to receive a fifth nomination for best show at the festival. In June 2016, Acaster appeared as a guest on "Russell Howard's Stand Up Central". In July 2016, Acaster performed in the comedy tent at Latitude Festival. In September 2016, he wrote a pilot episode for a new sitcom, "We The Jury", which was broadcast by the BBC.


title: James Acaster

text: In 2017, Acaster took "Recognise", "Represent", and "Reset" to various venues, performing one show each night over three nights as "The Trelogy". A further show of previously performed material, "Recap", was also developed to tie the shows together thematically. These four shows were filmed in September for a Netflix special. His first book, "James Acaster's Classic Scrapes", recounting the stories he told on Josh Widdicombe's XFM radio show and podcast, was published in August, followed by a book-reading tour in autumn 2017. "Classic Scrapes" appeared on "The Sunday Times" best-seller list. In November, he turned on the Christmas lights in Kettering.


title: James Acaster

text: In March 2018, Acaster released his serialised Netflix stand-up comedy special, "". It consists of four separate hour-long stand-up comedy performances, all filmed in September 2017: "Recognise", "Represent", "Reset", and "Recap". In July 2018, Acaster performed on the Comedy Stage at the Cornbury Music Festival. He currently presents a weekly podcast series with Ed Gamble called "Off Menu". In the podcast, Gamble and Acaster invite a special guest to discuss their dream starter, main course, side, dessert and drink.


title: James Acaster

text: In 2019, Acaster won the Chortle Award for Best Show with "Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999". "Perfect Sound Whatever" is Acaster's second book, about an obsessive challenge that he undertook in 2017 to collect as much music released in 2016 as possible. It was published by Headline Publishing Group in August 2019. In 2019, Acaster won the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award, making him the first UK comedian to do so in nine years. Acaster's podcast with BBC Sounds, "James Acaster's Perfect Sounds", started in April 2020.


title: James Acaster

text: Acaster, Romesh Ranganathan, and James Corden voiced three mice and appeared as three transformed footmen in the 2021 film "Cinderella". In 2022, he published the book "James Acaster's Guide to Quitting Social Media: Vol. 1".


title: James Acaster

text: His special "Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999" was released on Vimeo in March 2021. It was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy Special in 2022.


title: James Acaster

text: In November 2022, Acaster announced a new musical project called Temps, a music collective of 40 individuals. Acaster formed the group through email communication in the COVID-19 pandemic with musicians he contacted while working on "Perfect Sound Whatever". Their debut album is set to be released by Bella Union in 2023 and explore genres including alt-rock, hip-hop and jazz. The lead single "no,no" was released in November 2022; the music video features Acaster in his "Party Gator" costume.


title: James Acaster

text: He dated English comedian Louise Ford until she left him for Rowan Atkinson in 2013. He then dated New Zealand comedian Rose Matafeo from 2014 to 2017.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The siege of Mariupol was a siege in Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, when forces from Russia and the separatist Donetsk People's Republic engaged Ukrainian forces in the city of Mariupol. The siege, which was part of the Russian eastern Ukraine offensive and southern Ukraine offensive, started on 24 February 2022 and concluded on 20 May 2022, when Russia announced the remaining Ukrainian forces in Mariupol surrendered after they were ordered to cease fighting.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Mariupol is located in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, and is controlled by the Russian-backed separatist Donetsk People's Republic. Russian forces completely besieged the city on 2 March, after which they gradually gained control. By 22 April, the remaining Ukrainian forces had retreated to the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, a massive and highly defensible industrial complex.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The Red Cross described the situation as "apocalyptic", and Ukrainian authorities accused Russia of engineering a major humanitarian crisis in the city. Ukrainian officials reported that about 25,000 civilians had been killed and that at least 95% of the city had been destroyed during the fighting, largely by Russian bombardments. The United Nations stated it had confirmed the deaths of 1,348 civilians, but said the true death toll was likely thousands higher, and added that 90% of the city's residential buildings had been damaged or destroyed.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The siege ended on 16 May 2022, after what media outlets called the "evacuation" or "surrender" of the remaining Azov Regiment personnel from the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works; the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the Ukrainians had "surrendered", a word Ukraine avoided using.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Some Western reports called the battle a pyrrhic or symbolic victory for Russia, with others noting that the siege's humanitarian impact was a "reputational disaster" for Russia. However, the loss of the city has also been seen as a significant defeat for Ukraine.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Mariupol was considered a major strategic city and therefore was a target for Russian forces. It was the largest city in the Ukrainian-controlled portion of Donetsk Oblast, and was also one of the largest Russian-speaking cities in Ukraine. Mariupol was a major industrial hub, home of the Illich and Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, and the largest city on the Sea of Azov.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Control of its port on the western shore of the Sea of Azov is vital to the economy of Ukraine. For Russia, it would allow a land route to Crimea and allow passage by Russian marine traffic. Capturing the city gave Russia full control over the Sea of Azov.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: In 2014 after the Revolution of Dignity, Mariupol was swept by pro-Russian protests against the new government. Tensions erupted into the war in Donbas in early May, and during the unrest, militiamen of the separatist and Russian-backed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) took control of the city and forced Ukrainian troops to abandon it during the first battle for Mariupol. However, the following month, Ukrainian forces recaptured the city in an offensive. In August, the DPR and Russian troops captured the village of Novoazovsk, 45 km east of Mariupol near the Russo-Ukrainian border. With the town captured and forces renewed, in September the DPR attempted to capture the city again in the second battle for Mariupol. Fighting reached the eastern outskirts, but the separatists were eventually repelled. In October, then-DPR Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko vowed to retake the city. Mariupol was then indiscriminately bombed by rockets in January 2015. Fearing a future third offensive into Mariupol, in February Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack into Shyrokyne, a village located 11 km east of Mariupol with the objective of expelling the separatist forces from the city limits and creating a buffer zone away from DPR territory. The separatists withdrew from Shyrokyne four months later. The conflict was frozen when the Minsk II ceasefire agreement was signed in 2015.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: One of the most instrumental groups for the recapture and subsequent defenses of Mariupol was the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian volunteer militia, controversial for their openly neo-Nazi and ultranationalist members. By November 2014 Azov was integrated into the National Guard of Ukraine, and set Mariupol as their headquarters. As one of Vladimir Putin's stated goals for the invasion was the "denazification" of Ukraine, Mariupol represented an important ideological and symbolical target for the Russian forces.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Prior to falling to Russian forces, the city was defended by the Ukrainian Ground Forces, the Ukrainian Naval Infantry, the National Guard of Ukraine (primarily the Azov Regiment), the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine and irregular forces.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 24 February, the day the invasion began, Russian artillery bombarded the city, reportedly injuring 26 people.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On the morning of 25 February, Russian forces advanced from DPR territory in the east towards Mariupol. They encountered Ukrainian forces near the village of Pavlopil, with Ukrainian forces defeating the Russian advance. Vadym Boychenko, mayor of Mariupol, said that 22 Russian tanks had been destroyed in the skirmish.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The Russian Navy, drawing on the capabilities provided by the Black Sea Fleet, reportedly began an amphibious assault on the Sea of Azov coastline west of Mariupol on the evening of 25 February. A US defense official stated that the Russians may have deployed thousands of marines from this beachhead.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 26 February, Russian forces continued to bombard Mariupol with artillery. Later, the government of Greece announced that ten ethnic Greek civilians had been killed by Russian strikes at Mariupol, six in the village of Sartana and four in the village of Buhas.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On the morning of 27 February, Boychenko said that a Russian tank column had advanced on Mariupol from the DPR, but this attack was repulsed by Ukrainian forces, with six Russian soldiers captured. Later that day, a 6-year-old girl in Mariupol was killed by Russian shelling. Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of Donetsk Oblast, stated that fighting in Mariupol had continued throughout the night of 27 February.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Throughout 28 February, the city remained under Ukrainian control, despite being surrounded by Russian troops and constantly shelled. Electricity, gas, and internet connection to most of the city was cut during the evening. Later, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russian Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky was killed by a Ukrainian sniper near Mariupol, but other sources said that he had been killed during the Kyiv offensive.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 1 March, Denis Pushilin, the head of the DPR, announced that DPR forces had almost completely surrounded the nearby city of Volnovakha and that they would soon do the same to Mariupol. Russian artillery later bombarded Mariupol, causing over 21 injuries.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The city was fully surrounded on 2 March, after which the siege intensified. Russian shelling killed a teenager and wounded two other teenagers who were playing soccer outside. Boychenko announced the city was suffering from a water outage and had experienced massive casualties. He also said Russian forces were preventing civilians from exiting.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Later on 2 March, Russian artillery targeted a densely populated neighborhood of Mariupol, shelling it for nearly 15 hours. The neighborhood was massively damaged as a result, with deputy mayor Sergiy Orlov reporting that "at least hundreds of people are dead".


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On the morning of 3 March, the city was shelled again by Russian troops. Eduard Basurin, the spokesman for the DPR militia, formally called on the besieged Ukrainian forces in Mariupol to surrender or face "targeted strikes". Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov reported that DPR forces had tightened the siege, and that three nearby settlements had been captured.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 4 March, Boychenko stated that the city's supplies were running out, and called for a humanitarian evacuation corridor and Ukrainian military reinforcements. He also stated that Russian BM-21 Grads were shelling the city's hospitals and that Mariupol residents no longer had heat, running water, or electricity. Later that day, a temporary ceasefire was proposed for the Mariupol region in order to allow citizens to evacuate.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 5 March, the Ukrainian government announced its desire to evacuate 200,000 civilians from Mariupol. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced that it would act as a guarantor for a new ceasefire to allow for this evacuation. The Red Cross described the situation in Mariupol as "extremely dire". After three days of shelling, a ceasefire was announced to be in effect from 11:00 to 16:00. Civilians began to evacuate from Mariupol along a humanitarian corridor to the city of Zaporizhzhia. As civilians entered the evacuation corridor, Russian forces continued shelling the city, forcing evacuees to turn back.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Ukrainian authorities later reported that Russian forces had failed to observe the ceasefire and continued to shell the city. Russian officials accused Ukrainian forces of not allowing civilians to evacuate towards Russia. The DPR reported that only 17 civilians had been evacuated from Mariupol.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 6 March, the Red Cross announced that a second attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol had again failed. Anton Herashchenko, a Ukrainian official, said the second attempt at a humanitarian corridor for civilians in Mariupol ended with a Russian bombardment. The Red Cross reported that there were "devastating scenes of human suffering" in Mariupol. Later in the morning, Inna Sovsun, a Ukrainian member of parliament, stated that the fuel pipeline that supplies Mariupol was damaged by Russian forces, leaving more than 700,000 people without heat, and suggested that people might freeze to death, as the temperature at the time often fell below . The bombardment also hit the city's last functioning cellular tower.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 7 March, the ICRC Director of Operations stated that humanitarian corridor agreements had only been made in principle, without the precision required for implementation, needing routes, times and whether goods could be brought in to be agreed. The ICRC team had found that one of the proposed corridor roads was mined, and the ICRC was facilitating talks between Russian and Ukrainian forces.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 8 March, another attempt to evacuate civilians was made, but the Ukrainian government accused Russia of violating the ceasefire again by bombing the evacuation corridor.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 9 March, the Associated Press reported that scores of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers were being buried by city workers in a mass grave at one of the city's cemeteries. Russian shelling had hit the cemetery the previous day, interrupting the burials and damaging a wall. Later, another attempted ceasefire failed after Orlov reported that Russian soldiers had opened fire on construction workers and evacuation points. Orlov described the city's supply shortage as so severe that residents were melting snow to get water. Later that day, the Mariupol City Council issued a statement that a Russian airstrike had struck and destroyed a maternity ward and children's hospital. Ukrainian officials stated that three civilians were killed and at least 17 wounded.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Ukraine's military stated on 12 March that Russian forces had captured the eastern outskirts of Mariupol. Later, a vehicle convoy of 82 ethnic Greeks was able to leave the city via a humanitarian corridor.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 13 March, Boychenko stated that Russian forces had bombed the city at least 22 times in the previous 24 hours, with a hundred bombs, and added that the last food and water reserves in the city were being depleted. The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the National Guard of Ukraine had damaged several Russian armored vehicles with artillery strikes during the day. İsmail Hacıoğlu, the head of the local Sultan Suleiman Mosque, stated that 86 Turkish citizens in the city were awaiting evacuation by the Turkish government.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: More than 160 cars were able to leave the city on 14 March at 13:00 local time, the first evacuation allowed during the siege. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that 450 tonnes of humanitarian aid had been brought to the city after Russian forces captured the outskirts. Ukrainian military officials were later said to have killed 150 Russian soldiers and destroyed 10 Russian vehicles.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On the same day, Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, stated that Chechen soldiers were participating in the siege and had briefly entered Mariupol before retreating. Kadyrov also stated that Adam Delimkhanov, a close ally and member of the State Duma, was the commander of Chechen forces in Mariupol. The funeral for Captain Alexey Glushchak of the GRU was held in Tyumen, and it was revealed he died near Mariupol, likely in the early stages of the siege.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Ukrainian government official Anton Herashchenko said that Russian Major General Oleg Mityaev, commander of the 150th Motorized Rifle Division, was killed when Russian forces tried to storm the city. The Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre, sheltering hundreds of civilians, was hit by a Russian airstrike on 16 March and destroyed. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk Oblast, later stated that Russian forces had also targeted the Neptune swimming pool.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 18 March, DPR forces said they had captured the Mariupol airport from Ukrainian forces. Clashes later reached the city center, according to the mayor and on 19 March, Russian and Ukrainian forces began fighting at the Azovstal steel plant. On the same day, President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded Colonel Volodymyr Baranyuk and Major Denys Prokopenko, leaders of the defense in Mariupol, the honor of Hero of Ukraine, the country's highest military award. During this time, while attempting to transport the killed and wounded to the hospital at Azovstal, Major Mykyta Nadtochii, commander of the Azov Regiment's second battalion, was wounded in a Russian airstrike.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 20 March, the city council of Mariupol claimed Russian forces had forcefully deported "several thousand" people to camps and remote cities in Russia over the past week. Russia denied the accusation. The same day, an art school building, which had sheltered some 400 people, was destroyed in a Russian bombing. No information on casualties was immediately available.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: An order by Russia's Ministry of Defence to surrender, lay down arms and evacuate the city was submitted on 20 March, requesting a written response by 02:00 UTC the next day. The ultimatum was rejected by the Ukrainian government and the mayor of Mariupol. By this point, one of the Ukrainian battalion commanders in the city described "bombs falling every 10 minutes".


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 21 March, the first helicopter evacuation from Azovstal took place as eight or nine seriously wounded soldiers were evacuated, including the wounded Major Nadtochii. Two Ukrainian Mil Mi-8 helicopters flew into Azovstal as part of "Operation Air Corridor", carrying a special forces team with crates of Stinger and Javelin missiles, as well as a satellite internet system. "Operation Air Corridor" lasted until 7 April, when one helicopter was shot down, followed by the shooting down of a second helicopter that was sent as part of rescue efforts to search for survivors of the first downing. The four special forces members on board the second helicopter were killed, along with the helicopter's crew. Ukraine claimed 85 seriously wounded soldiers were evacuated as part of "Operation Air Corridor" during seven missions to the Azovstal plant to resupply or deliver reinforcements using some 16 Mi-8s, in pairs or fours, two of which were shot down, along with the rescue helicopter, according to Major General Kyrylo Budanov. In contrast, Ukrainian president Zelensky stated 90 percent of helicopter pilots sent to Mariupol during the course of the siege to resupply Ukrainian forces and evacuate the wounded were lost due to Russian air-defenses. According to Russia, one Ukrainian Mil Mi-8 helicopter was shot down on 28 March, as it was heading to Mariupol to evacuate the leaders of the Azov Regiment. In addition, Russia reported its forces shot down two more Ukrainian Mi-8s on 5 April, as they were once again attempting to evacuate Azov commanders.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 23 March, local authorities, including the mayor, left the city due to the deteriorating situation. The following day, Russian forces entered central Mariupol, seizing the Orthodox Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God. The city administration alleged that Russians were trying to demoralize residents by publicly shouting claims of Russian victories, including statements that Odessa had been captured.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Vadym Boychenko said on 27 March that while Mariupol was still under Ukrainian control, Russian forces had entered deep into the city and that the city's population needed a "complete evacuation". By this point, Ukrainian soldiers had run out of food and clean drinking water, and an analyst believed that Ukrainian forces would not be able to fight on beyond a few days. However, Ukrainian officers refused to evacuate from the city, as they did not want to abandon their wounded and dead soldiers and civilians. The "Club 8bit" computer museum was destroyed.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 28 March, Mayor Vadym Boychenko said "we are in the hands of the occupiers today" in a televised interview, and a spokesman for the Mariupol mayor's office announced that "nearly 5,000 people" had been killed in the city since the start of the siege. The Ukrainian government estimated that "from 20,000 to 30,000" Mariupol residents had been forcibly sent to camps in Russia under Russian military control. During the day, Russian forces seized the administrative building in the northern Kalmiusky district and the military headquarters of the Azov Regiment. The next day, Russian forces were reported to have likely divided Ukrainian troops in the city into two and possibly even three pockets.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 2 April, Russian forces captured the SBU building in central Mariupol, after which there was no more reported fighting in the area. On 4 April, one Ukrainian battalion surrendered, with Russian officials stating two days later they captured 267 Ukrainian marines from the 503rd Battalion of the Ukrainian Naval Forces. Due to the surrender, the lines between the Ukrainian 36th Separate Marine Brigade and the Azov Regiment had been broken. On 7 April, the DPR announced central Mariupol had been cleared of Ukrainian forces.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Meanwhile, Russian troops started an advance from the southwest on 1 April, leaving the Ukrainian military in partial control of the area around the port in the southwest of Mariupol by 7 April. On 4 April, a Russian Navy missile hit a Malta-based Dominica-flagged cargo ship, resulting in the ship catching fire. In addition, on 7 April, Russian forces captured a bridge leading to the Azovstal steel plant. The following day, Russian troops seized the southern part of Mariupol's port.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 10 April, Russian forces captured the fishing port, separating Ukrainian troops in the port from those in the Azovstal steel plant into two pockets, while a possible third pocket was centered on the Illich steel plant to the north. The next day, DPR forces claimed to have captured 80% of Mariupol. Local Ukrainian forces expected the city to fall soon, since they were running out of ammunition, and analysts at the Institute for the Study of War believed that Mariupol would fall within a week.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 11 April, Russian media reported that 160 Ukrainian servicemen from the 36th Separate Marine Brigade were captured with their equipment.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: During the night between 11 and 12 April, Baranyuk led the 36th Separate Marine Brigade in an attempt to break out of the Russian encirclement at the Illich steel plant to the north. After being spotted they broke into smaller groups, with some of them managing to link up with fighters of the Azov Regiment at the Azovstal plant to the southeast. A large number of Ukrainian servicemen were either killed or captured during the breakout. The fate of Baranyuk initially remained unknown. Later, the DPR claimed that they had identified the body of Baranyuk after their special forces blocked the Ukrainian breakout. However, on 8 May, Baranyuk appeared alive in an interview with RT, along with the 36th Brigade's Chief of Staff Dmytro Kormiankov. They were reported to have been captured during the breakout attempt.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Around the same time at 11 April, a battalion of tankers of the 17th Tank Brigade, which were doing operations supporting the 36th Brigade, did not follow Baranyuk's plan and instead broke through the siege. They used two tanks, anti-aircraft guns and cars for transport, and after breaking out they proceeded on foot for 175 km until reaching friendly Ukrainian positions. For leading his men to safety, the unit's commander, Liutenant Colonel Oleg Grudzevych, was awarded a Hero of Ukraine medal.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 12 April, Aiden Aslin, a British man fighting with the Ukrainian Marines, reported that his unit was going to surrender since they had run out of ammunition, food and other supplies. Subsequently, in the evening, Russia stated that 1,026 Marines of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade had surrendered at the Illich steel plant, including 162 officers and 400 wounded fighters. Later, Russia said it captured an additional 134 Ukrainian servicemen, bringing the total number of prisoners to 1,160. Ukraine confirmed nearly 1,000 Marines had been captured, including wounded and those who remained at the Illich plant. On 13 April, Russian forces secured the Illich plant, reducing the number of pockets in Mariupol to two, while Russia also announced it had taken full control of Mariupol's commercial port, which was confirmed three days later. The commander of the Azov Regiment, Prokopenko, criticized the servicemen that had surrendered, while praising those that managed to link up with his unit. Prokopenko, as well as Ukrainian intelligence officer Illia Samoilenko, also blamed Baranyuk for the large losses inflicted on Ukrainian forces, stating his actions were uncoordinated. According to Prokopenko, Baranyuk's breakout attempt was made without warning to other units and the direction of attack was not previously agreed upon, while Samoilenko called Baranyuk a "coward", stating he tried to flee the city, "taking with him people, tanks and ammunition".


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Ukrainian military expert Oleg Zhdanov claimed that by this point the Russian 810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade, originally sent from Feodosia, had suffered extremely heavy losses during the siege, to the extent of being "destroyed twice."


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 15 April, a Ukrainian military commander issued a plea for military reinforcements to come and "break the siege" of Mariupol. He also said that "the situation is critical and the fighting is fierce" but that sending reinforcements and breaking the siege "can be done and it must be done as soon as possible". On the same day, Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk reported Russia started using Tu-22M3 long-range bombers to strike targets in Mariupol. The Azovstal iron and steel works, the heart of one of the remaining pockets of resistance, was well-defended and described as a "fortress within a city", as the steel plant was an enormous complex that made locating the Ukrainian forces difficult and had workshops that were difficult to destroy from the air. Additionally, the complex contained a system of underground tunnels, which would make clearing the entire complex challenging. During the day, Russian forces captured the base of the Ukrainian National Guard's , in western Mariupol.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 16 April, DPR troops seized a police station near Mariupol's beach and Russian forces were confirmed to have seized the Vessel Traffic Control Center at the port. Several days after the port was captured, on 20 April, a Ukrainian Marine officer claimed Marine and Azov forces from the Azovstal plant conducted an evacuation operation of around 500 members of the Ukrainian Border Guard and National Police from the port, as they were running out of ammunition. According to the officer, the Ukrainian forces from the Azovstal pocket made an armoured breakthrough to the port and provided covering fire, as the 500 besieged soldiers retreated to the Azovstal plant. Subsequently, Russia announced all urban areas of the city had been cleared, claiming that Ukrainian forces only remained at the Azovstal Steel Plant. However, fighting was reported to be continuing near Flotskaya street in the western Primorsky District.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 18 April, it was estimated that 95% of the city had been destroyed in the fighting. Ukrainian soldiers ignored a Russian ultimatum to surrender, deciding to fight to the end. Russia threatened to "destroy" those who continued to fight on. A military expert estimated that there could still be 500 to 800 Ukrainian soldiers holding out within the city, while Russian officials estimated that 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers and 400 foreign volunteers were holding out within the Azovstal plant.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 20 April, Russian and DPR forces made small advances on the outskirts of the Azovstal plant. On 21 April, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops not to storm the Azovstal steel plant, but to blockade it instead until the Ukrainian forces there ran out of supplies. He also reported that "The completion of combat work to liberate Mariupol is a success", while a Ukrainian official rebutted Putin's comments, saying that Russia's choice of implementing a blockade over storming the steel plant meant that Russia had admitted their inability to physically capture Mariupol. General Sir Richard Barrons, former commander of the United Kingdom's Joint Forces Command, assessed that the battle for the plant was no longer "really relevant" in regard to the control of the city and its roads, since Russia and Crimea were now connected. In his opinion, defeating Ukrainian forces at the plant would have been "really difficult" for Russian troops without an "enormous cost to both sides". Despite the ordered blockade, Russian forces advanced within of some of the Ukrainian positions.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 22 April, the western Primorsky District was thought to be cleared by Russian forces, with no more reports of fighting, with all of the remaining Ukrainian forces surrounded in the Azovstal Steel Plant. On 23 April, according to Ukraine, airstrikes and an apparent ground assault recommenced on the Azovstal steel works. An advisor to the Ukrainian President said: "The enemy is trying to strangle the final resistance of the defenders of Mariupol in the Azovstal area". However, this could not be independently confirmed. Ukrainian security chief Oleksiy Danilov claimed that at night, a helicopter had resupplied Azovstal. On the same day, it was reported that Russia was redeploying forces from Mariupol to other fronts in eastern Ukraine, with Russia reportedly redeploying 12 units from Mariupol. On the next day, Russian forces continued bombing Ukrainian positions in the Azovstal Steel Plant, with reports that Russian forces might have been planning a renewed assault on the facility. During the night of 27 to 28 April, the heaviest airstrikes yet were reportedly conducted against Azovstal, with more than 50 strikes by Tu-22M3, Su-25s and Su-24s aircraft hitting the facility, according to Ukraine. Ukraine claimed a military field hospital was hit, with the number of wounded increasing from 170 before the strike to more than 600 after the bombing.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 30 April, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) started to run evacuations through a humanitarian corridor. This corridor was made after a trip by Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres to Moscow the previous week, where he personally brokered a deal. On 30 April 20 civilians had left the Azovstal steel plant, while Russian media claimed a number of 25. Talks were underway to try and release the remaining 1,000 or so civilians. At least two of the wives of members of the Azov Regiment called for a concurrent evacuation of the about 2,000 forces that would be left behind after the civilian evacuation, highlighting concerns of treatment as POWs by the Russians and lack of medical and food supplies.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 2 May, about 100 civilians were reported to have been evacuated. Russian aircraft, according to the US Department of Defense, were using dumb bombs in Mariupol. Russian ground forces were also reported to be pulling out of the city, possibly to reinforce their positions elsewhere in the Donbas, where Russia was carrying out a large-scale offensive. According to one US DOD official: "Largely the efforts around Mariupol for the Russians are now in the realm of airstrikes". On 3 May, the Russian forces in Mariupol restarted their attacks on Azovstal. They began an assault on the steel plant in what have been called "difficult bloody battles". The following day it was reported the Russians had broken into the plant. Ukrainian politician Davyd Arakhamia said: "Attempts to storm the plant continue for the second day. Russian troops are already on the territory of Azovstal." On 5 May, some 300 civilians were allowed to leave due to Russia opening humanitarian corridors. These corridors ran from 8am to 6pm. Ukrainian forces blamed Russian success on an electrician who gave Russian forces information about the underground tunnel network, claiming: “Yesterday, the Russians started storming these tunnels, using the information they received from the betrayer.”


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 5 May, "The Telegraph" reported that Russia had intensified its bombing of the steel factory bunkers by using thermobaric bombs to increase the devastation of deployed firepower against the remaining Ukrainian soldiers who had lost all contact with the Kyiv government; in his last communications, Zelenskyy had authorized the commander of the besieged steel factory to surrender as necessary under the pressure of increased Russian attacks.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 6 May, some 500 civilians, in total, had been evacuated according to the United Nations. The Azov Regiment reported one fighter killed and six wounded while helping evacuate civilians.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 7 May, the Ukrainian government announced that all of the remaining women, children and elderly who had been inside the Azovstal steel plant had been evacuated.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 8 May, the commander of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, Serhiy Volynskyi, asked "that a higher power find a way to figure out our rescue". As to their current conditions, "It feels like I've landed in a hellish reality show in which us soldiers fight for our lives and the whole world watches this interesting episode. Pain, suffering, hunger, misery, tears, fears, death. It's all real." President Zelenskyy promised "we are working on evacuating our military".


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 9 May, the Donetsk People's Republic held a Victory Day parade in Mariupol. The leader of the Republic, Denis Pushilin participated in the event. At the same time, a meeting took place near Mariupol involving Russian military representatives and Ukrainian commanders from Azovstal, including Major Prokopenko, who were brought to the meeting place by Russian armoured vehicles from Azovstal. During the meeting, the terms of the Ukrainians' surrender were agreed upon.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 10 May, Ukrainian authorities reported that over 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers, hundreds of them wounded, remained trapped inside the Azovstal steelworks.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The Institute for the Study of War noted the lack of a Russian ground offensive on 12 May, but noted that Russian forces had likely secured the M14 highway the following day.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 16 May, Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of a DPR brigade stationed near Azovstal, stated that a group of nine soldiers had come out of the plant to negotiate under a white flag. On the same day, the Ukrainian General staff announced that the Mariupol garrison had "fulfilled its combat mission" and that "evacuation" from the Azovstal steel plant had begun. The military said that 264 service members, 53 of them seriously wounded, had been taken by bus to areas controlled by Russian forces. A social media post was released by Azov Regiment commander Denys Prokopenko stating: "In order to save lives, the entire Mariupol garrison is implementing the approved decision of the Supreme Military Command and hopes for the support of the Ukrainian people." Wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the Azovstal plant were taken to the DPR-controlled town of Novoazovsk for treatment. The evacuation of wounded troops was followed in the subsequent days by the surrender of the remainder of the garrison. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said: "Thanks to the defenders of Mariupol, Ukraine gained critically important time to form reserves and regroup forces and receive help from partners. And they fulfilled all their tasks. But it is impossible to unblock Azovstal by military means."


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Russia press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin had guaranteed that the fighters who surrendered would be treated "in accordance with international standards" while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address that "the work of bringing the boys home continues, and this work needs delicacy – and time". Some prominent Russian lawmakers called on the government to deny prisoner exchanges for members of the Azov Regiment. The ICRC registered the surrendered troops as prisoners of war at the request of both sides, collecting information to contact their families.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 18 May, Russian artillery and aircraft bombed once again Azovstal's remaining defenders. The DPR leadership claimed that the local high-ranking Ukrainian commanders had not yet surrendered. According to Russian sources, the last defenders surrendered on 20 May, among them Lieutenant Colonel Prokopenko, Major Volynskyi and Captain Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov Regiment. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that altogether 2,439 prisoners had been taken at Azovstal between 16 and 20 May, and that the steel plant was now under control of Russian and DPR forces.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 18 May, Denis Pushilin announced Azovstal would be demolished by the Donetsk People's Republic, and Mariupol would be turned into a resort city.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Russian Telegram bloggers shared a video, reportedly showing Russian soldiers attacking some remaining Ukrainian holdouts at Azovstal on 22 May. Head of the DPR Denis Pushilin claimed that some Ukrainian holdouts had been discovered and captured in the area of the Azovstal plant.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: In an explosion at Olenivka prison on 29 July 2022, 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war from Mariupol were killed and 75 wounded. Both Ukrainian and Russian authorities accused each other of the attack on the prison. As of 30 July, there was no independent confirmation of what occurred.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The Ukrainian parliament stated on 30 April 2022 that the city's living conditions had been reduced to "medieval" levels, and that most of the city's sanitary and health infrastructure was destroyed, potentially putting the city's citizens at risk of disease.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: In late April, the Mariupol City Council urged the evacuation of 100,000 residents, warning of "deadly epidemics" in the city.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 28 April 2022, the Rospotrebnadzor issued a 40-paragraph resolution calling for additional measures to be taken in regards to drinking and waste water, especially in places which had become locations for Ukrainian refugees (specifically Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Rostov and Voronezh Oblasts), as well as providing information to citizens about cholera by 1 June 2022. The government of Rostov Oblast announced that Ukrainian refugees in Russia would be tested for cholera.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 17 May 2022, the World Health Organization warned of the possibility of cholera outbreaks in Ukraine, with WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge saying, "We are concerned about the potential cholera outbreak in occupied areas where water and sanitation infrastructure is damaged or destroyed." Such concerns were echoed by WHO Ukraine incident Manager Dorit Nitzan, who reported "swamps" of waste water on the streets of Mariupol, and claimed that there were cases of sewage and drinking water being mixed in the city.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 6 June 2022, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Healthcare Ihor Kuzin warned against a potential cholera outbreak in the city; saying that all preconditions for an outbreak were already present. In addition to Mariupol, Ukrainian task forces tested soil and drinking water in Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, and Sumy Oblasts. Shortly after his announcement, Russian occupational authorities imposed a quarantine on the city.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Mayor Boychenko said on 11 June that there was an outbreak of cholera in the city as sanitation systems were broken and corpses were rotting in the streets.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Medical officials in Ukraine and Russia have cautioned that cholera could spread beyond Mariupol, with Russian government officials in oblasts bordering Ukraine establishing labs to treat cholera. Ukrainian epidemiologist Liudmyla Mukharska warned that the outbreak could spread throughout the rest of the Donbas, and that outbreaks of intestinal infections, dysentery, salmonellosis, and hepatitis A and E were possible. Other epidemiologists said that due to rotations of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine and the deportation of Ukrainians to filtration camps within Russia, the spread of the cholera outbreak to Russia was inevitable.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: According to Ukraine, around 6,000 Russian soldiers were killed during the siege, while Russia stated more than 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died up to the start of the siege of the Azovstal plant in mid-April and that the bodies of another 152 Ukrainian soldiers were found in a non-functioning refrigerated truck in Azovstal following the facilitie's siege. Explosives capable of destroying the bodies were found underneath them. The bodies would be handed over to Ukraine. By 12 June, Russia returned the bodies of some 220 deceased Ukrainian soldiers, all of whom had been fighting in the Azovstal steelworks, while "just as many bodies" still remained in Mariupol. A third of these were soldiers from the Azov unit. Subsequently, another 145 bodies of those killed in Mariupol were returned.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Ukraine claimed the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade of Russia's Black Sea Fleet had 158 killed, 500 wounded and 70 missing by mid-April, while the Black Sea Fleet's 126th Coastal Defence Brigade, a unit of about 2,000 soldiers, suffered 75 percent losses. In addition, Ukraine claimed 14 special forces members of the Russian Spetsnaz GRU were killed by late March.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: According to Russia, some 3,903 Ukrainian soldiers were captured during the siege, while Ukraine confirmed more than 3,500 soldiers, with an additional battalion, were taken prisoner. On 8 June, over 1,000 prisoners of war were transferred from the DPR to Russia.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Mariupol's deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov stated on 9 March that at least 1,170 civilians in the city had been killed in the city since Russia's invasion began and the dead were being buried in mass graves. On 11 March, the city council stated that at least 1,582 civilians had been killed during the siege, increasing that number on 13 March to 2,187 having been killed by the latter date. On 14 March, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stated that more than 2,500 civilians had been killed in Mariupol's siege. However, the city council later clarified that 2,357 civilians had died.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Pyotr Andryushchenko, an adviser to the city government, however stated that the council's count was inaccurate and estimated that total number of civilians killed could be as high as 20,000. "The New York Times" reported that officials in the city had been struggling to account for how many civilians had died or gone missing during the siege. Videos posted on Telegram showed that residents of the Cheryomushki neighborhood were forced to bury corpses in a courtyard, while others had to turn a post office building into a makeshift morgue, stacking it with dead bodies.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 16 March, the Associated Press (AP) reported that it had documented that many of the dead were "children and mothers" contrary, it said, to Russian government claims that civilians had not been targeted. It also reported that doctors in Mariupol were saying that they were treating "10 injured civilians for every injured Ukrainian soldier."


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 11 April, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko stated that over 10,000 civilians had died in the Russian siege of Mariupol. On 12 April, city officials reported that up to 20,000 civilians had been killed. On the same day, the Mayor of the city reported that about 21,000 civilians had been killed. An updated Ukrainian death toll the following month put the number of civilians killed at at least 22,000.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: By mid-June, The United Nations stated it had confirmed the deaths of 1,348 civilians, but said the true death toll was "likely thousands higher".


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On August 29, President of Mariupol Television, volunteer and civil activist Mykola Osychenko said to Dnipro TV that, according to the insider information, 87,000 deaths have been currently documented in morgues in Mariupol. Besides, 26,750 bodies are buried in mass graves, and many more are buried in the yards of the apartment blocks and private houses, or still under the rubble.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The Greek minority in Ukraine which is concentrated in and around Mariupol was impacted heavily by the fighting. Sartana and Volnovakha, two towns near Mariupol having substantial Greek population, were hit hard by Russian forces and nearly completely destroyed.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 6 March, Petro Andryushchenko, advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, reported that people were "drinking from puddles in the streets" due to the loss of running water in the city caused by days of around-the-clock Russian shelling and bombing attacks. He also stated that there was no heat, electricity or telephone service. According to US officials, civilians had been unable to evacuate the city due to repeated ceasefire violations, attacks on agreed-upon evacuation corridors, and direct attacks on civilians attempting to evacuate.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 14 March, another spokesman for the ICRC announced that "hundreds of thousands" of people in the city were "facing extreme or total shortages of basic necessities like food, water and medicine." On 15 March, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk accused Russian forces of taking around 400 civilians hostage after capturing a hospital in the city. Ukrainian officials accused Russian forces of firing at an evacuation convoy and injuring five civilians on 16 March. On 18 March, Ukrainian officials stated that more than 350,000 people were sheltering under siege in Mariupol, still with no access to food or water.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 21 March, CNN reported that an official in Mariupol said that people are afraid, due to the constant bombing and shelling, to leave their underground shelters even to obtain food and water, meaning they were trying to drink less and eat less. On 22 March, CNN reported that the Russian Army had confiscated 11 buses that were headed into the city in order to evacuate citizens. Fox News later reported that at least some of the buses were filled with humanitarian supplies which were taken. It was also reported that 15 aid workers in the buses have been arrested while trying to get food into Mariupol. CNN also reported that to that date, all attempts to bring empty buses into Mariupol to evacuate civilians had failed. On 23 March, Ukrainian President Zelenskeyy announced that 100,000 civilians were still unable to get out of Mariupol and that they were trapped in "inhumane conditions" without food, running water or medicine.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 1 April, a rescue effort by the UN to transport hundreds of civilian survivors out of Mariupol with 50 buses failed.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Ultimately the ICRC reported that it had helped facilitate the safe evacuation of over 10,000 civilians from Mariupol and Sumy.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Numerous war crimes were committed by Russian forces during the siege. Some media outlets described the crimes that occurred as the worst seen in the 21st century.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 25 March, Russian Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev was accused by Ukrainian authorities of ordering the bombings of both the Mariupol Children's and Maternity Hospital and the city theatre where 1,200 civilians were sheltering. Mizintsev was nicknamed the "Butcher of Mariupol" by western and Ukrainian sources as a result of his alleged role in the siege, and sanctioned by the United Kingdom. Accused of personally directing war crimes during the siege, Mizintsev accused Ukrainian troops of creating a "terrible human catastrophe," and furthermore claimed that he would allow the safe exit of Ukrainian civilians from Mariupol. Mizintsev's claims were rejected by Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk as "manipulation."


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 7 March, U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Michael Carpenter, described two incidents that occurred in Mariupol on 5 and 6 March as war crimes. He stated that on both dates, Russian forces bombed agreed-upon evacuation corridors while civilians were trying to use them.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 9 March, after an airstrike damaged a maternity ward and children's hospital, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted that the attack was an "atrocity" along with a video of the building's ruins. The hospital was destroyed. Three people were killed, including a young girl and at least 16 were injured; authorities stated that many more patients and hospital staff were buried under rubble from the blast.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that the building was formerly a maternity hospital, and Russia bombed it because it was then occupied by the Azov Regiment.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Later on the same day, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova rejected the hospital bombing as "information terrorism", while Russian Ministry of Defence spokesman Igor Konashenkov called the bombardment staged.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Then, on the afternoon of 10 March, the Russian Embassy to the UK said in a tweet that two injured pregnant women seen being evacuated after the attack were actually played by actresses wearing "realistic make-up", that the maternity ward was occupied by the Azov Regiment and that no women or children had been present since the facility was "non-operational". The tweet was later removed by Twitter for violating their rules on disinformation. Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for the Russian President, stated soon after the bombing that the Russian government would investigate the incident.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The accusation by Russia then began trending online in Russia, including on Russian Telegram social media, which has hundreds of thousands of followers. Twitter then took down the embassy's posts.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The pregnant woman videotaped being carried out wounded on a stretcher (accused by Russia of being an actress) was moved to another hospital and then died on 13 March, after her child was stillborn. She had suffered numerous injuries in the bombing, including a crushed pelvis and detached hip, which contributed to the stillbirth of her child. Seeing that she had lost her baby, medical workers said that she cried, "Kill me now." Thirty minutes later, she also died.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Russian claims that the videos were faked and that the bombed hospital was being used as a military post were debunked by investigative reporters. On 22 March, Russian journalist Alexander Nevzorov was charged under Russia's "false information" law after he published information about the Russian shelling of a maternity hospital in Mariupol. Under a new law passed on 4 March, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 16 March, the Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre of the city was struck and largely destroyed by an airstrike. The Mariupol city council accused Russia of targeting the drama theatre, where at least hundreds of civilians had been sheltering. Human Rights Watch stated that the theatre was sheltering at least 500 civilians. Serhiy Taruta, the former governor of Donetsk Oblast, stated that 1,300 were sheltering inside.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: A satellite image taken by Maxar Technologies on 14 March showed that the Russian word for "children" was written in large white letters on the pavement in both the front and the back of the theatre, which would make it clear that civilians were sheltering inside. Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba claimed that Russia "could not have not known this was a civilian shelter". According to the Verkhovna Rada, it was impossible to start rescue operations at the theatre due to the ongoing shelling. The city council also stated that access to the shelter in the theatre was blocked by debris. The Russian Defense Ministry denied attacking the building and accused the Azov Regiment of blowing it up.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The bomb shelter in the basement, where people had been sheltering, however, was able to resist the attack according to Taruta. Survivors began emerging from the remains of the theatre on 17 March. More than 130 civilians had been rescued from the basement as of 18 March, according to Ukrainian officials, and rescuers had yet to find any fatalities. The city council stated that no one had died according to initial information, but one person was gravely wounded.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The Associated Press reported that 600 civilians were killed during the airstrike, double the official number given by the Ukrainian government.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 2 March, deputy mayor Sergiy Orlov reported that Russian artillery targeted a densely populated neighborhood of Mariupol, shelling it for nearly 15 hours. He said that one populated residential district on the city's left bank had been "nearly totally destroyed".


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Satellite photos of Mariupol taken the morning of 9 March taken by Maxar Technologies showed "extensive damage" to high-rise apartments, residential homes, grocery stores and other civilian infrastructure. This was determined by comparing before and after photos. The Mariupol council made a statement that the damage to the city has been "enormous". It estimated that approximately 80% of the city's homes had been significantly damaged, of which almost 30% were beyond repair. Reporting from Mariupol, Reuters reporter Pavel Klimov said that "all around are the blackened shells" of tower block dwellings.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 16 March, BBC News reported that nearly constant Russian attacks had turned residential neighbourhoods into "a wasteland." On the same day it reported that it had obtained drone footage showing "a vast extent of damage, with fire and smoke billowing out of apartment blocks and blackened streets in ruins." A city resident told the BBC that "in the left bank area, there's no residential building intact, it's all burned to the ground." The left bank contained a densely populated residential district. She also said that the city centre is "unrecognisable." On the same day the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Russian forces continued to commit war crimes in Mariupol including "targeting civilian infrastructure."


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 18 March, Lieutenant General Jim Hockenhull, Chief of Defence Intelligence for the United Kingdom (UK), described "continued targeting of civilians in Mariupol". Ukrainian authorities stated that about 90% of buildings in Mariupole were now damaged or destroyed. On the same day, Sky News from the UK described videos as showing "civilian areas left unrecognisable by the bombing." Sky News also quoted the Red Cross as describing "Apocalyptic destruction in Mariupol." On 19 March 2022, a Ukrainian police officer in Mariupol made a video in which he said "Children, elderly people are dying. The city is destroyed and it is wiped off the face of the earth." The video was authenticated by the Associated Press.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The government of Mariupol said on 28 March that 90% of all buildings in Mariupol had been damaged by shelling, with 40% of all structures inside the city destroyed. The statistics released also counted that 90% of Mariupol's hospitals had been damaged, and that 23 schools and 28 kindergartens had been destroyed by Russian shelling.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: By 18 April, Ukrainian officials estimated that at least 95% of Mariupol had been destroyed in the fighting, largely as a result of the Russian bombing campaigns.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 12 April, city officials reported that up to 20,000 civilians had been killed. On the same day, the Mayor of the city reported that about 21,000 civilians had been killed.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: On 11 April 2022, Eduard Basurin, a spokesperson for the Donetsk People's Republic, called for Russia to bring "chemical forces" to "smoke out the moles", referring to the Ukrainian forces in the Azovstal. Later on the same day, the Azov Regiment accused Russian forces of using "a poisonous substance of unknown origin" in Mariupol, causing respiratory problems. A Pentagon spokesperson said the reports were not confirmed, but they reflect concerns about Russia's potential use of chemical agents. Later, Ukraine stated that it was investigating the allegations. Three Ukrainian soldiers were injured in the incident.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: According to experts, it is too soon to say what exactly had happened, UK and Ukrainian officials said that they suspected the use of white phosphorus, which is not typically regarded as a chemical weapon in international law.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Associated Press staff member Mstyslav Chernov and freelancer Evgeniy Maloletka, working for AP, stayed in Mariupol from late February until 11 March. They were among the few journalists, and, according to the AP, the only international journalists in Mariupol during that period, and their photographs were extensively used by Western media to cover the siege and the situation in the city. According to Chernov, on 11 March, they were in a hospital taking photos, when they were evacuated from the city with the assistance of Ukrainian soldiers. They managed to escape from Mariupol unharmed, at which point, he said, no journalists were left in the city.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: Testimonies from the Azovstal steel plant were made available via the Starlink satellite connections system.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: The propaganda in the state-controlled media in Russia presented the invasion as a liberation mission and accused Ukrainian troops of attacking civilian targets in Mariupol.


title: Siege of Mariupol

text: "The Guardian" observed in a piece on Mariupol published after the Russian attack on the Mariupol maternity ward that "Entire settlements reduced to rubble, attacks on civilian targets and the bombing of refugee exit routes were all part of Moscow’s brutal Syria campaign", while the "Washington Post" under the headline "Russia’s Ukraine war builds on tactics it used in Syria, experts say" related the effects on the civilian population as "dwindling food supplies. No electricity or water. Russian tanks roaming the streets. Nights punctuated by shelling." Ukrainian officials warned that this battle risked "becoming a second Aleppo." The Syria Civil Defense team said "They want to empty those cities of their population, so it will be less costly for Russia to take over," and indeed some estimates were that 75% of Mariupol’s population had left by 31 March.


title: True Blood

text: True Blood is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on "The Southern Vampire Mysteries", a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development.


title: True Blood

text: The series revolves around Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress living in the fictional rural town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. It is set two years after the invention of a synthetic blood product branded "Tru Blood" that has allowed vampires to "come out of the coffin" and let their presence be known to mankind. It chronicles the vampires' struggle for equal rights and assimilation while anti-vampire organizations begin to gain power. Sookie's world is turned upside down when she falls in love with 174-year-old vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), and for the first time, she must navigate the trials and terrors of intimacy and relationships.


title: True Blood

text: The show was broadcast on the premium cable network HBO, in the United States, and was produced by HBO in association with Ball's production company, Your Face Goes Here Entertainment. The series premiered on September 7, 2008, and concluded on August 24, 2014, comprising seven seasons and 80 episodes. The first five seasons received highly positive reviews, and both nominations and wins for several awards, including a Golden Globe and an Emmy.


title: True Blood

text: The fictional universe depicted in the series is premised on the notion that vampires exist, unbeknownst to the majority of humans until two years before the series premiere, when the creation of synthetic blood ("Tru Blood") by Japanese scientists, which eliminated vampires' need for human blood to survive, allowed vampires to "come out of the coffin" and reveal their existence to the world. This so-called "Great Revelation" has split vampires into two camps: those who wish to integrate into human society (i.e., "mainstream") by campaigning for citizenship and equal rights, and those who think human-vampire co-existence is impossible, because it conflicts with the inherently predatory and violent nature of vampires. It has also caused similar divisions amongst non-vampires; some believe that vampires should be accepted and granted rights, while others view them as monsters to be destroyed. Throughout the series, other supernatural creatures are introduced, among them shapeshifters, werewolves, faeries, witches, and a maenad.


title: True Blood

text: The series revolves around Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic human-faerie hybrid known as a halfling (not to be confused with similarly named, but unrelated creatures found in other fantasy works). Sookie is a waitress at Merlotte's Bar and Grill, owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps. Sam is a shapeshifter, though this secret is kept hidden from most of the town. Other characters include Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), a 173-year-old vampire who has returned to Bon Temps to take up residence in his former home following the death of his last remaining relative; Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley), Sookie's tough-talking but insecure best friend; Jason (Ryan Kwanten), Sookie's womanizing brother; Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård), a 1000-year-old vampire and Sheriff of Area 5; and Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis), a short order cook, drug dealer, road crew member, and medium.


title: True Blood

text: The show explores several contemporary issues such as the struggle for equal rights, discrimination, and violence against minorities and homosexuals, the problems of drug addiction, the power of faith and religion, the control/influence of the media, the quest for identity, and the importance of family.


title: True Blood

text: Series creator Alan Ball had previously worked with the cable channel HBO on "Six Feet Under", which ran for five seasons. In October 2005, after "Six Feet Under" wrapped, Ball signed a two-year agreement with HBO to develop and produce original programming for the network. "True Blood" became the first project under the deal after Ball became acquainted with Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mystery books. One day, while early for a dental appointment, Ball was browsing through a Barnes & Noble bookshop and came across "Dead Until Dark" (2001), the first installment in Harris' series. He read the entries that followed and became interested in "bringing [Harris'] vision to television". Having already had two other adaptation options for the books, Harris said she chose to work with him, though, because "[Ball] really 'got' me. That's how he convinced me to go with him. I just felt that he understood what I was doing with the books."


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text: The project's hour-long pilot was ordered concurrently with the completion of the development deal. It was written, directed, and produced by Ball. Cast members Paquin, Kwanten, and Trammell were announced in February 2007, and Moyer later in April. The pilot was shot in the early summer of 2007 and was officially ordered to series in August, at which point Ball had already written more episodes. Production on the series began later that fall, with Brook Kerr, who portrayed Tara Thornton in the original pilot, replaced by Rutina Wesley. Two more episodes of the series had been filmed before the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike shut down production of the 12-episode first season until February 2008. That September, after only the first two episodes of the series had aired, HBO placed an order for a second season of 12 episodes, with production scheduled to commence in January 2009 for a summer premiere.


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text: "True Blood"'s Emmy-nominated title sequence is composed of portrayals of the show's Deep South setting, and runs to "Bad Things" by Jace Everett. The original featurette was created around the Jennifer Herrema (Royal Trux) song "RadTimesXpress".


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text: Conceptually, the sequence was constructed around the idea of "the whore in the house of prayer" by intermingling contradictory images of sex, violence, and religion and displaying them from the point of view of "a supernatural, predatory creature observing human beings from the shadows ..." Ideas of redemption and forgiveness are also explored, and thus the sequence progresses from morning to night and culminates in a baptism.


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text: The title sequence was created by the independent film company Digital Kitchen. The sequence also features images and themes of death and rebirth; the circle of life. A Venus fly-trap can be seen engulfing a frog, while the rotting of a fox's head is sped up to reveal maggots feeding off the corpse. Rebirth is represented by an image of a woman being "washed clean" from her sins in a lake, and a preacher blessing and possibly performing an exorcism on a member of his congregation.


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text: Some of the footage used in the sequence was filmed on location. Digital Kitchen took a four-day trip to Louisiana to film; it also shot scenes at a Chicago church, and on a stage and in a bar in Seattle. The opening sequence of TRUE BLOOD contains shots that are composed of original documentaries, tabletop photography, studio and found footage which are completely handmade. Creative director Matt Mulder explains that they wanted the


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text: edit to “rumble through the swamps, wilderness and the cultures of the South to eventually reach into the hearts and minds of its inhabitants.”


title: True Blood

text: During editing, individual frames were splattered with drops of blood. The sequence's transitions were constructed differently; they were made with a Polaroid transfer technique. The last frame of one shot and the first frame of another were taken as a single Polaroid photo, which was divided between emulsion and backing. The emulsion was filmed being further separated by chemicals, and those shots of this separation were placed back into the final edit. Eight different typefaces, inspired by Southern road signs, were created manually for cast and crew credits, as well as the show's title card.


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text: In a 2010 issue of "TV Guide", the show's opening title sequence ranked #5 on a list of TV's top 10 credits sequences, as selected by readers.


title: True Blood

text: Gary Calamar, who supervises the series' music, said his goal for the show's soundtrack is to create something "swampy, bluesy and spooky" and to feature local Louisiana musicians. "True Blood" soundtrack albums have twice earned Grammy Award nominations.


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text: Composer Nathan Barr writes the original score for the series, which features the cello, guitar, prepared piano, and glass harmonica among other instruments, all of which he performs himself. The main theme song is "Bad Things" by country music artist Jace Everett, from his 2005 self-titled debut.


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text: Elektra/Atlantic Records released a "True Blood" soundtrack on May 19, 2009, the same day as the release of the DVD and Blu-ray of the first season. Nathan Barr's original score for "True Blood" was released on CD on the Varèse Sarabande label on September 8, 2009. The second "True Blood" soundtrack was released on May 25, 2010, to coincide with the third season's premiere in June. The third volume was released on September 6, 2011, a few days before the season four finale.


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text: Both Nathan Barr and Jace Everett won 2009 awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated in the BMI Cable Awards category for, respectively, "True Blood's" original score and theme song.


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text: The show's individual episode titles are named after songs featured in the episodes, usually heard during the closing credits. The title usually indicates something about the events that will unfold throughout the given episode. For example, episode ten of season four is titled "Burning Down the House", and the end credits feature a cover version of the classic Talking Heads song performed by The Used.


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text: The premiere of "True Blood" was prefaced with a viral marketing/alternate reality game (ARG) campaign, based at BloodCopy.com, throughout the summer. This included setting up multiple websites, encoding web address into unmarked envelopes mailed to high-profile blog writers and others, and even performances by a "vampire" who attempted to reach out to others of their kind, to discuss the recent creation of "TrueBlood", a fictional beverage featured in the show.


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text: A MySpace account with the username "Blood" had, as of June 19, uploaded two videos; one entitled "Vampire Taste Test – True Blood vs Human", and one called "BloodCopy Exclusive INTERVIEW WITH SAMSON THE VAMPIRE".


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text: A prequel comic was handed out to attendees of the 2008 Comic-Con. The comic centers around an old vampire named Lamar, who tells the reader about how TruBlood surfaced and was discussed between many vampires before going public. At one point, Lamar wonders if TruBlood is making the world safe for vampires or from them. Several commercials featured on HBO and Facebook aired prior to the series premiere, placing vampires in ads similar to those of beer and wine.


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text: HBO produced and broadcast two documentaries to promote "True Blood", entitled "True Bloodlines". The first, "Vampire Legends", explored the earliest portrayals of vampires in legend, literature, and cinema. The second, "A New Type", discusses vampire culture from Nosferatu to today's sensual, sexual creatures. To that end, the show also covered the modern vampire subculture and real-life vampire clubs. Actors and writers from "True Blood" appeared in the documentaries. The shows first aired on September 6, 2008, on HBO.


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text: Thousands of DVDs of the first episode were handed out to attendees of Midnight Madness, a special film festival. Blockbuster Video provided free rental of the first episode of "True Blood" several days before it was broadcast on HBO.


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text: On April 16, 2009, HBO released the first teaser poster for season 2. The image uses a perspective technique that shows observers one of two images. A minute-long promotional video advertising season two, which featured Bob Dylan's "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'", was released via "Entertainment Tonight" in early May. There was also a website for The Fellowship of the Sun, antagonists from the book series, featuring videos about hot-button issues such as becoming a vampire.


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text: In September 2009, HBO filed a trademark registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a possible future electronic game based on "True Blood". The network then launched a "True Blood" jewelry line in collaboration with New York-based designer Udi Behr. Inspired by the series, the jewelry has a Gothic look and features sterling silver, polished steel, and rubies. In the same month, HBO.com began selling Tru:Blood, a beverage branded to resemble the fictional synthetic blood that appears in the show. The beverage is a carbonated blood orange-flavored drink, developed and manufactured by Omni Consumer Products, a company that specializes in defictionalizing brands from television and movies, and FMCG Manufacturing Company, a specialist manufacturer of licensed entertainment products.


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text: In June 2010, HBO held a special event at a number of movie theaters around the U.S., complete with red carpet, searchlights, and swag bags. Contest winners were invited to watch a live special, the Season 2 finale, a preview of Season 3, and a live interview on the set of "True Blood" with the cast and Alan Ball. HBO also began selling "True Blood" figural busts featuring Bill, Sookie, and Eric. Busts of other characters became available later.


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text: HBO and IDW Publishing announced at the 2010 WonderCon that they would be publishing a comic book based on the series. Alan Ball developed and wrote the comic. The first booklet, with a print run of 53,000, was released in July 2010 and soon sold out. The second issue went on sale August 18, 2010, with a second printing of the first issue going on sale August 25. Six comics were issued in the series, and they were compiled as the graphic novel "All Together Now" on February 15, 2011. This was the first in a series of four graphic novels released by HBO under the "True Blood" franchise and sold in major bookstores. Ensuing titles include "Tainted Love", "The French Quarter", and "Ongoing".


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text: "True Blood" employs a broad ensemble cast composed of regular, central characters and a rotating group of impermanent supporting characters. Though the series is based in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, a noticeable number of the actors are originally from outside the United States. In an interview, Ball explained that he didn't intentionally seek out "non-American" actors, but was willing to go anywhere he needed to in order "to find the actor who makes the character breathe". Ball went on to explain that, in casting, there was more of a focus on who would portray the character in a compelling way rather than who would physically resemble the characters from the book. Noting that there's a definite difference between the characters and storylines portrayed in "True Blood" and the ones depicted in "The Southern Vampire Mysteries", he described Harris as being very understanding in terms of how her work was being reinterpreted.


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text: The major characters of the first season of "True Blood" are introduced among various intertwining plot lines that surround the Bon Temps bar "Merlotte's". The show's main protagonist, Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), is a telepath and waitress at Merlotte's. In the opening episode she saves Merlotte's first vampire customer, Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), when a local couple attempts to drain him of his blood (vampire blood is known on the show as a human narcotic: "V" or "V Juice"). Through the relationship that develops between Sookie and Bill, the viewer progressively learns more about vampire culture and the limitations of vampire physiology (e.g. susceptibility to silver and the sun).


title: True Blood

text: The main mystery of the first season concerns the murders of women connected to Sookie's brother, Jason. Maudette Pickens and Dawn Green are both strangled shortly after having been alone with him. Though Detective Bellefleur has little doubt that Jason is the killer, the town sheriff does not suspect him. Sookie's grandmother is murdered shortly afterward. After the murders, Jason becomes addicted to vampire blood and has a short relationship with another addict, Amy Burley, which ends when she is murdered as well. The season also focuses on Sookie's relationship with Bill and Sam's relationship with Sookie's friend Tara. Bill explains the rules of being a vampire to Sookie and, after killing a vampire to defend her, is forced to "turn" a young girl named Jessica into a vampire as punishment. The immature Jessica is left under Bill's care and starts to grow up both as a vampire and as a person. In the end, it is revealed that Arlene Fowler's fiancé, Rene Lenier, has been killing women who associate with vampires. Further, he is actually a man named Drew Marshall who created a false identity, complete with a fake Cajun accent. The season ends with the discovery of a body in Detective Andy Bellefleur's car in Merlotte's parking lot.


title: True Blood

text: The second season loosely follows the plot of the second novel of "The Southern Vampire Mysteries", "Living Dead in Dallas". In addition, the character of Sophie-Anne Leclerq, initially introduced in the sixth novel "Definitely Dead", was introduced as a major supporting character. The main theme of the season involves the disappearance of Godric, the 2,000-year-old vampire Sheriff of Area 9. Eric enlists Sookie and Bill's aid in finding the ancient vampire in Dallas. Their paths cross Jason's as he seeks to discover meaning in his life with the Fellowship of the Sun, a church dedicated to anti-vampire activities. A second theme concerns a maenad named Maryann who visits Bon Temps after Tara attracts her attention at the end of the first season. Maryann is a figure from Sam's past and knows his true identity as a shapeshifter. Her influence on the town and its residents results in mayhem that grows more destructive as the season progresses. At the end of the season, Bill proposes to Sookie but is kidnapped by unknown assailants when Sookie retreats to the bathroom to consider his proposal.


title: True Blood

text: Season three loosely follows the plot of the third novel of The Southern Vampire Mysteries, "Club Dead", and introduces werewolves to the show's mythology through Alcide, a werewolf hired by Eric to help Sookie find Bill. It also introduces the characters of Russell Edgington, the Vampire King of Mississippi, who wishes to overturn the Vampire Authority. In addition, some characters from the fourth novel "Dead to the World" are introduced: Crystal Norris as Jason's love interest, her family of werepanthers from Hotshot, and Sookie's "faerie godmother", Claudine. Sookie's heritage as part faerie is also revealed later in the season, a major plot element from the eighth and ninth novels "From Dead to Worse" and "Dead and Gone". This season ends with Jason left to take care of the werepanthers of Hotshot, Tara leaving Bon Temps after a traumatic experience with a vampire, Sookie discovering that Bill was first sent to Bon Temps by the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, Sam shooting his brother, Tommy, and Hoyt and Jessica moving in together. The final cliffhanger involves Claudine taking Sookie away to the land of Faerie.


title: True Blood

text: A coven of witches, led by Marnie, poses a threat to vampires when they discover the witches are working on necromancy. Sookie returns to Bon Temps after a year (even though for her she was away for only a few minutes in Faerie) to find Bill as the new King of Louisiana and that her brother and friends had given up hope of finding her. As the series progresses, a powerful necromancer from the 16th century, Antonia, possesses the body of Marnie in order to exact revenge on all vampires. Sookie starts a romance with Eric who has amnesia due to a spell cast by Antonia/Marnie. The witch Antonia eventually realizes the wrongdoing she's caused to innocent people and decides to stop. Yet Marnie, addicted to Antonia's power, binds her against her will to acquire her powers. Subplots include Lafayette's introduction to the world of magic and his abilities as a medium, Sam's family troubles, Alcide and Debbie's troubled relationship, and Jason, Hoyt and Jessica's love triangle. The finale is a series of cliffhangers, including a warning from the ghost of Rene that Terry will cause Arlene trouble, the escape of Russell Edgington, the reappearance of Steve Newlin as a vampire, and the shooting of Tara.


title: True Blood

text: The season starts with Sookie and Lafayette asking for Pam to turn Tara into a vampire. Bill and Eric are captured by the Vampire Authority for killing Nan Flanagan. The two are almost sentenced to death by the Guardian, Roman, before revealing that Russell Edgington is alive and free after being released by a mysterious vampire. With the help of Sookie, the team discovers his hiding place and brings him in. Russell and his new vampire-companion, Steve Newlin, along with Salome, and Eric's vampire sister, Nora, redefine the values of the Authority and view humans as nothing more than food: just as Lilith of the Vampire bible wanted. Meanwhile, Alcide deals with his troubled rise to pack-master, Terry learns he is death-cursed after committing a terrible crime during the war in Iraq, while Tara learns how to deal with her newly given life as Pam's progeny. Jason and Sookie discover that their parents were murdered by a vampire named Warlow. Hoyt gets involved with a hate group, then decides to leave for Alaska, just as Andy heads towards life as a family man, and Lafayette tries to deal with the powers given to him by Jesus. The season ends with the Authority leadership being wiped out during the True Blood crisis, and Bill drinking the entirety of the sacred vial of Lilith in front of Sookie and Eric. He soon meets the "true death", but shortly after, he "rises from the blood", as an even more powerful vampire reincarnation of Lilith ("Billith").


title: True Blood

text: The sixth season of "True Blood" premiered on June 16, 2013. After Alan Ball's departure from the series at the end of season 5, Brian Buckner replaced Ball as the show's showrunner. Season six focuses on Bill's abilities after he had drunk Lilith's blood. Sookie and Jason try to find Warlow, the vampire who killed their parents, with a fairy grandfather named Niall who arrives in Bon Temps while Louisiana governor Burrell leads a platform to eradicate the entire vampire race with Sarah Newlin. Sam and Alcide fight for Emma's safety; Terry struggles to live with himself after having killed Patrick; Andy raises his fairy daughters. Eric decides to turn the governor's daughter Willa into a vampire to convince him to stop his campaign, but she is put into a vampire camp by her father along with Eric, Pam, Jessica, and Tara, where they are all supposed to meet the sun according to Bill’s prophecy. Bill asks Sookie for help, who is considering becoming Warlow's vampire-fairy bride after discovering her parents tried to kill her when she was young. Eric has discovered that Sarah Newlin created a virus that kills vampires, later witnessing Dr. Overlark and Governor Burrell infect Nora in front of him. When the vampires are about to meet the sun, Bill offers his blood to them, allowing them to walk in the daylight. The season finishes six months later where Sookie is dating Alcide, Bill has released a book about the effects of drinking Lilith's blood, and Sam being the mayor of Bon Temps and selling his bar to Arlene, and a group of infected vampires heading toward the bar during a human/vampire outdoor night barbecue mixer.


title: True Blood

text: The seventh and final season premiered on June 22, 2014, with the last episode was airing on August 24, 2014. In this season, Bon Temps is terrorized by a group of vampires infected with the virus created in the previous season. They kill Tara and kidnap Arlene, Holly, Jane Bodehouse, Kevin and Nicole. Pam travels the world in search of Eric, who is found in France infected by the virus. They return to Bon Temps and help Sookie, Bill, and Jessica rescue the people who were kidnapped, after Sookie and Bill’s first attempt results in Alcide's death and Sookie being infected by the virus which she later transmits to Bill. Eric and Pam search for Sarah Newlin, who supposedly has an antidote for the virus. Several characters encounter closure like Lettie Mae making peace with Tara through visions caused by vampire blood, Jessica and Hoyt getting married after reuniting during the season, Lafayette entering a relationship with Jessica's ex-boyfriend James, and Sam leaving Bon Temps with Nicole. At the end of the series, Bill refuses to take the antidote to heal himself from the virus and asks Sookie to give him the "ultimate kindness". Sookie eventually agrees and strikes Bill's heart with a wooden stick in his grave at Bon Temps cemetery. Pam and Eric successfully sell the new Tru Blood with the antidote. The last scene of the series shows a pregnant Sookie sitting outside at a table full of people on Thanksgiving beside a mysterious man. They kiss and drink, and everyone around them appears to be happy.


title: True Blood

text: The first season of "True Blood" received positive reviews, despite initial impressions being mixed. Linda Stasi of the "New York Post" wrote of the opening episodes:


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text: If HBO's new vampire show is any indication, there would still be countless deaths – especially among vampire hunters and the viewers who love them – because everyone would be dying of boredom. And so it is with HBO's new series from death-obsessed Alan Ball, creator of the legendary "Six Feet Under", whose new show "True Blood", won't so much make your blood run cold as it will leave you cold.


title: True Blood

text: Sexy, witty and unabashedly peculiar, "True Blood" is a blood-drenched Southern Gothic romantic parable set in a world where vampires are out and about and campaigning for equal rights. Part mystery, part fantasy, part comedy, and all wildly imaginative exaggeration, "[True] Blood" proves that there's still vibrant life — or death — left in the 'star-crossed cute lovers' paradigm. You just have to know where to stake your romantic claim.


title: True Blood

text: The series achieved its highest Rotten Tomatoes rating of 95%, with an average rating of 8.25/10 based on 22 reviews, during its third season. The critical consensus of the season reads, ""True Blood" seems to fully understand its appeal, and its third season provides plenty of graphic thrills, steamy romance, and biting satire for its fans." Metacritic, another aggregator of critical responses, found "generally favorable reviews" for the first five seasons, with ratings of 63, 74, 79, 74 and 74, respectively.


title: True Blood

text: The sixth season, notable for being the first of the series not to have Alan Ball as showrunner, was met with mixed reviews in contrast to the acclaim of the previous five seasons. Many critics noted the decreasing quality of the scripts and production values. In his review, Brian Lowry of "Variety" remarked:


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text: People can debate when “"True Blood"’s” creative rigor mortis officially set in — somewhere during that stretch when the show began piling one supernatural creature upon another (werewolves and witches and faeries, oh my!) — but suffice it to say this once-significant and hugely lucrative HBO series limps into its seventh and final season looking pretty anemic.


title: True Blood

text: The sixth and seventh seasons each received an approval rating of 44% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critical consensus of season six reading: "A major letdown coming off the end of season five, "True Blood" seems to be running out of steam and isn't aging as elegantly as its eternal vampires." On Metacritic, the sixth season rated 58, while the seventh 54, both indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: True Blood

text: The cast received positive reviews for their performances, with praise going to the performances of Anna Paquin and Nelsan Ellis. For the first season, Anna Paquin won the Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama Golden Globe at the 66th Golden Globe Awards; she was also nominated the next year and won the Saturn Award for Best Actress in a Series, Drama at the 13th Satellite Awards, a ceremony in which Nelsan Ellis also won Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. Stephen Moyer won the award for Best Actor on Television at the 2010 ceremony.


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text: "True Blood" was the subject of a "Sesame Street" sketch parody titled "True Mud" (2010), featuring puppet versions of Sookie, Bill, Lafayette, Sam, Tara, and Sheriff Dearborne. In the skit, Muppet Sookie struggles to fulfill Muppet Bill's pleas for a pint of "True Mud", as the other characters speculate whether or not he is a "grouch".


title: True Blood

text: Anna Paquin (Sookie), Stephen Moyer (Bill), and Alexander Skarsgård (Eric) appeared on the September 2010 cover of "Rolling Stone" covered in blood and completely naked. This cover drew criticism due to the image's supposed promotion of sexuality and violence. The show's creator, Alan Ball, stated in the magazine, "To me, vampires are sex... I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I'm 53. I don't care about high school students. I find them irritating and uninformed."


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text: Professional wrestler Matt Hardy credits the show as the inspiration for his "Broken" Matt Hardy character.


title: True Blood

text: The struggle for vampire equality in "True Blood" has been interpreted as an allegory for the LGBT rights movement. Charlaine Harris, the author of the book series on which the show is based, stated that her initial characterization for the vampires were as "...a minority that was trying to get equal rights". Several phrases in the series are borrowed and adapted from expressions used against and about LGBT people, such as "God Hates Fangs" (God Hates Fags) and "Coming out of the coffin" (coming out of the closet).


title: True Blood

text: "Entertainment Weekly"s Ken Tucker wrote that the show is built "around a series of metaphors: Vampire rights stand in for gay rights, and now the clever laughs elicited from this bratty-vampire girl represent an extreme of adolescent rebelliousness". David Bianculli of NPR wrote, ""True Blood" is big on allegory, and the tension about accepting vampires into society is an obvious play on civil rights in general, and gay rights in particular". However, the series' creator, Alan Ball, who is gay, has stated that such a comparison is lazy and possibly homophobic; and Lauren Gutterman of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies has expressed concerns that the show might perpetuate negative stereotypes of homosexuals as deviants.


title: True Blood

text: The first episode of "True Blood" debuted at a very modest 1.44 million viewers compared to the network's past drama premiers such as "Big Love" which premiered at 4.56 million, and "John from Cincinnati" which debuted at 3.4 million. However, by late November 2008, 6.8 million a week were watching: this figure included repeat and on-demand viewings. The season finale's viewership was 2.4 million.


title: True Blood

text: The second-season premiere of the series (June 14, 2009) was viewed by 3.7 million, making it the most watched program on HBO since the series finale of "The Sopranos". The total number of viewers for the season premiere, including the late night replay, was 5.1 million.


title: True Blood

text: The tenth episode of the second season (August 23, 2009) was seen by 5.3 million viewers, a new record for the series. The second season's finale (September 13, 2009) was seen by 5.1 million viewers. An average of 12.4 million a week watched the second season.


title: True Blood

text: The ninth episode of the fourth season (August 21, 2011) set a new record with 5.53 million viewers, making it the most viewed episode to date.