It has been a humanitarian disaster since the beginning of the full-scale offensive in Mariupol. A native resident of the city told how she was forced to survive without water, light and normal living conditions together with her little son.
Native resident of Mariupol Maria within the framework of the project HERtold Channel 24 how long she had to stay in the city after the invasion began. Her family was with her, including her parents, sister, husband and a small one-year-old child.
We first lived in an apartment, and then moved to the basement
Maria noted that until March 8, she and her family could stay in the house, despite the fact that aircraft were constantly flying over the house. The only hope for the family at that difficult time was prayer, but already on March 10, an enemy air bomb fell into the courtyard. Then the family had to move to the basement and live in the cold. In the apartment, the situation was even worse.A lot of houses got damaged and a lot of people died because they were cooking outside. There was no longer gas, because on March 5 it was turned off. We were very cold, the children were constantly screaming. We didn't have a single good night. The children were constantly cold and hungry, – says the woman.
Miraculously, Maria's apartment survived completely. A resident of Mariupol spoke with sadness about how her house constantly suffered from tank shelling.
About living conditions and the possibility of evacuation
Maria also stated that after the attack, people should cook food on the street. They also looked for a place to light a fire.
At first, the family still had the opportunity to store water. They recruited her in a kindergarten, which was across the street. However, later there was no such possibility, so we had to make reserves from rainfall.
Then, when it rained or snowed, it was a holiday for me, because then my people did not yet understand everything. I was collecting water from a puddle, my family did not understand at first and thought it was disgusting. And later they thanked me for thinking about it, because this water was very useful, – said Maria.
In mid-March – on the 15th – the families offered to evacuate the city along with other residents, but they refused, because they thought that soon everything would stop. At that time, there were Russian invaders in Mariupol. They told people that they could “sleep in peace”, but this, of course, was a lie.
Stories of people who fled the war
Besides the story of Mary, you can also learn about other migrants who miraculously managed to survive, in particular:
- Yulia from Mariupol, who was left alone with two children when the war began. Her husband went to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
- Employees of the “House of Rescued Animals” who saved four-legged animals from the war.
- Liliya, a resident of Mariupol, who ran away from the city under shelling to a safer area.
