Conflict in Mariupol, Ukraine

          The Ukrainian state’s ability to dampen the violence in their cities is quickly disintegrating as militant separatists, volunteer militias, oligarch backed paramilitary groups, and criminal gangs fight to control the streets of it's southern and eastern cities. “Ukraine is on the verge of becoming a failed state.” stated Sean Guillory. The expansion of both pro and anti-Russian forces, are still continuing. Sources state that this conflict will most likely not be solved by peaceful means as both sides are ready for a fight to take control. now while it may seem as though there may be a large war in Ukraine's short future, many have compared the conflict to more of a gang war between two competing oligarchies.
          This conflict came to be when the Party of Regions disintegrated and the police backed away or stood idle from the constant conflicts. In the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, gangs have begun roaming the streets at night. “During the daytime you can walk in the streets and it is actually safe to be in the city,” Anna Romanenko, a local journalist, told RFE/RL. At night, she added, “it is like in a [video] game: the city goes to bed, the mafia wakes up.” She reports that there is nightly shooting and stores and kiosks are robbed and burned. Signs hang on store fronts reading “Everything robbed already, don’t bother entering.” Because of the lack of police force local citizens have began joining the police and local separatists to lessen the crime by patrolling the streets at night. Without a proper police force many towns and cities in Ukraine are experiencing similar events. Both sides are currently trying to arm themselves as quickly as possible for the impending fight, in an attempt to scare the other side into yielding. Tensions are still on the rise in Ukraine, and there’s not much to do but sit back and watch.