The city of Mariupol is almost totally destroyed.
It is hard to believe 100,000 people are living in its ashes, as President Zelenskyy claims – trapped and trying to stay alive.
Bombs drop continuously, day and night. Escaping on foot from such a living hell seems unfathomable – but we met one family who did.
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Their home was bombed, then their car. They were sheltering in a basement for nearly a month with enough food for just a few days. They felt they had no option but to make a run for it.
“We watched as we went to the checkpoint – cars were shot at there,” said 15-year-old Bogdan.
His mother, Natalya, added: “There was an old man and woman in (a) car. They were shot next to each other – and for so many days they just lie in the car, nobody picks their bodies up.”
Being in Mariupol now is like being in a film, Natalya said. “We walked down the street and there was an apocalypse around.
“It’s just scary there. It felt like we were in a horror movie. As we walked away from the city we saw broken tanks, buses, unexploded bombs.”
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Attempting their extraordinary escape four days ago, they made it on foot to a checkpoint on the outskirts Mariupol.
There they were intercepted by Russian forces and refused an offer to go to Russia. They spent a night at the checkpoint before making it on foot to a neighbouring village where they received an offer from strangers of a lift in a car.
Mother and son showed us images of their bombed home. “The shells started to hit,” Natalya said.
“They flew into the yard, hit a balcony – a man went out on the balcony to smoke and it was hit by a shell. He died.
“A bomb also flew into a neighbouring house; the house burned down completely.
“We decided to move from our house to the next one. When we reached it, huge explosions started. We jumped into the entrance and a bomb flew into the car and exploded.”
They had money and bank cards but they were no use. Money was not going to get them out of Mariupol. Money couldn’t even get people much-needed medicines.
If people started to get sick, they would leave notes outside their houses asking for help with medication. Food has grown very scarce, too.
“When we left, people had almost nothing. No food, no water, no medicine,” Natalya said.
“There were problems with food because everyone thought it was for a few days – and then we sat and realised that we were there for 22 days.
“We stayed for almost a month. So we ate a spoonful of porridge. Very little. Everyone lost weight.”
Their courage has carried them to Lviv. But so many of their friends – Bogdan’s classmates – are still in Mariupol, often in basements with no idea of how to escape.
Mariupol is a strategic Kremlin target and Russian forces show no sign of relenting in their assault on the city.
With no diplomatic breakthrough, it is a terrifying prospect for those civilians still trapped there.
Natalya and Bogdan’s next stop is Poland. They have no plan beyond survival.
