Survive a month in the besieged city of Mariupol

Around 6 a.m. on February 24, Beskrovna, a financial expert in the city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine, woke up to a loud bang near her home.

“It was like watching a war movie and sitting too close to the speakers,” she recalls. “I wish the sound was the neighbour slamming the door, but when I browse social media I can’t believe my eyes.”

All her friends and acquaintances on social networks have announced that Russia has launched military operations in Ukraine. “Explosions, smoke and shells went off right near them. That’s how the war started,” Beskrovna said.

But at the time, many people didn’t understand the situation, laughed or didn’t believe the war was happening. Most of Mariupol’s residents see the situation in Donetsk as the separatist-controlled Donetsk and believe it is not in Russia’s interest to destroy the city.

Someone decided to drive away from Mariupol that day. A friend in Donetsk immediately contacted Beskrovna, warning her to leave because “things don’t seem right,” but Beskrovna was unable to participate in the first wave of evacuations because she didn’t have a vehicle.

“We were contacted by another friend who lived in a house with a basement on the other side of the city and asked us to take shelter there,” she said. “A dry basement is suddenly a luxury.”

Beskrovna immediately went to her friend’s house with her mother and cat. She has not been able to see her father Oleksii Beskrovnyi, 66, since February 26. “We’ve agreed that if something happens, he’ll come to our hiding place, but I haven’t heard from him yet,” Beskrovna said.

Beskrovna said it took her a while to adjust to the fact that she was at war.

“At first, it was all like a weird and boring party at a friend’s house. We had electricity, public transport for the first 2-3 days, and then the internet went online. The electricity was cut off,” she said.

“Everything happened suddenly, there was no hot water, and a match had to be lit to start the gas stove. All communication activities were completely dependent on the mobile network,” recalls Beskrovna. “Without being able to charge our laptops or our phones, we started to realize that we needed matches, candles and batteries.”

Water infrastructure and gas pipelines were also destroyed in the fighting. “We had to find firewood outside the house to make a fire and watch as the fire continued to pour down,” she said.

The house where Beskrovna lived was located in a battle zone between Ukrainian and Russian troops, including the Donetsk People’s Militia (DNR) and Chechen forces. There were 32 people in the basement, including 6 children.

Any activity outside the basement can be life-threatening due to the sudden drop of shells, as well as the cold weather and strong winds in Mariupol.

Shells hit several buildings and grocery stores near the Beskrovna shelter, killing several people in their sleep.

“You don’t know what day it is, or what time it is,” she said. “You can’t change clothes or shower for a whole month, but everyone does it and nobody cares. It’s a way of life that I can’t imagine in a developed industrial city in the 21st century.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on April 14 that Mariupol was “totally destroyed”, with about 95 percent of the city in ruins.

In those days, people spent most of their time trying to survive and had to work together to overcome difficulties. “We split into teams, found water, cleaned out ammo casings, built outbuildings and open-air kitchens,” recalls Beskrovna. “Sometimes we have to risk our lives to keep a close eye on the fire, despite the risk of shelling, because it could be our last meal.”

Mariupol Mayor Vadim Bojchenko estimated on April 13 that around 21,000 people had died and 120,000 residents remained trapped in the city, facing nearly eight weeks of starvation and cold.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Mariupol’s shelling will only end when “Ukrainian nationalist fighters stop resisting and surrender,” the statement said. March 29 statement from the Kremlin. If Mariupol is controlled, the Russian military will be able to link the strategic corridor from Donbass to Crimea, completely blocking Ukraine’s access to the Sea of ​​Azov.

Adventure to find a way out of the city

With rumors that some civilians might escape through checkpoints, Beskrovna and a few decided to try their luck.

“People meet at 6am, tie a white towel to the mirror, stick a piece of paper with the word ‘child’ on the windshield to indicate they are civilians. Then they split into different noses and pray. I’m not staying roadside because i don’t have humanitarian evacuation corridor“, she says.

On March 23, Beskrovna and 5 adults, with 4 cats and half a tank of gasoline left by the owner of the shelter, set off by car to the checkpoint outside the city, to Zapo near the city Roger.

After passing through two Ukrainian and 16 Russian checkpoints, Beskrovna saw the extent of Mariupol’s destruction for the first time after a month of fighting.

The distance from Mariupol to Zaporozhye usually only takes about three hours, but their journey is 14.5 hours long. Beskrovna described what she saw as “hell-like”, with bodies, car wrecks and tanks on the road.

Beskrovna then arrived in Lviv in western Ukraine before evacuating to the Danish capital Copenhagen, where she waited to seek asylum in Canada. The mother and her son, as well as the cat, felt welcome and assisted throughout the evacuation. For Beskrovna, it is a sign of national unity.

“I didn’t believe I could leave Mariupol before,” said Beskrovner, who believed Ukraine would keep fighting. “We will not accept such treatment.”

German and Chinese (according to european news)