Refugees from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol say their options in light of the continuing Russian bombing have narrowed to two potentially deadly alternatives, pointing out that World War Two was easier than what is happening in their country now, according to the British newspaper , The Telegraph , Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
The first option is to continue to take cover in their basements without electricity, water and heating, not knowing whether the next Russian missile will write their end. The second option is to leave that meager protection and go out in search of safety, but may face the punishment of shelling and bullets in an attempt to leave the city.
In this context, Ukrainian citizen Lyudmila Rudishkina and her family made the decision to flee. Their adventure paid off when they arrived in the nearby city of Zaporizhia, among the first wave of refugees that had successfully escaped from the besieged city. But in doing so, she left everything behind in the rubble.
The 84-year-old had no time to take anything with her but her elegant fur coat. "That's all I have left, the clothes I'm wearing," she said in a sobbing voice, eyes red from crying and exhaustion. Having lived her whole life in Mariupol, she now saw her in ruins.
While she cried, "The Second World War was easier than it is now."
The most intense battlefield
The city in southern Ukraine, with a population of 450,000, has become the most intense battleground of the Russian offensive to date, with three weeks of siege and bombardment that the Red Cross says has resulted in a "horrific" situation.
It is noteworthy that Mariupol is located between the eastern territories controlled by the Russian-backed separatists on the one hand and the Crimea peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014 on the other.
Capturing it would give the Russians direct land corridor along the route to control the Sea of Azov. Local officials counted more than 2,500 deaths in the siege, but many uncounted bodies are believed to have been dumped. They speculated that the death toll could be close to 20,000.
Meanwhile, an estimated 4,000 cars and 20,000 people reached safety after crossing the front line and spending the night in the open in temperatures as low as -7°C.
Opening a human corridor
While Ukrainian officials have been trying for days to open a humanitarian corridor to relieve the city, new arrivals fleeing told The Telegraph they had heard little about these arrangements within the city.
In the same context, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, appealed on Thursday to the two sides of the conflict in Ukraine to allow safe passage out of the besieged city of Mariupol and also to allow aid to enter it.
He added, in a press conference, that the committee was forced to leave the city yesterday, Wednesday, because its employees "no longer have the capabilities to carry out operations," but the committee will implement arrangements for the delivery of aid "as soon as there is a safe passage."
The ICRC also seeks access to prisoners of war on both sides of the conflict, and has stressed that captured soldiers should be treated with respect and not subject to "public curiosity".
Attempts to evacuate residents
Previous attempts to evacuate residents from Mariupol had recently collapsed, amid recriminations between the two sides and continued bombing or fears that the exit route was mined. With phones and internet connections cut off, those under siege had no news of the outside world, or information on how to get out, and families or groups of friends were left grappling with the decision to evacuate themselves.
But many decided to flee on Tuesday 15 March when they saw other cars driving, or when rumors spread that the road might be clear. "We thought we would either be killed on the road, or we would be killed while we were in Mariupol," said a 46-year-old woman named Victoria, who got out of her car after the 12-hour exodus.
In turn, Ms. Olga Ulanava and her family felt they had no choice but to venture out. The bombing destroyed the family's apartment on the fourth floor, and a shell fell on the third floor below it, then another hit the fifth floor above them. "It was a disaster!" Ulanava said. "The water and the electricity were cut off."
On the same day, Olga Ulanava left with four cars loaded with friends and family, and they were gradually tied to other vehicles on the way out. In a somber analogy, her daughter, 25-year-old Lisa Pashkova, compared the stunt to the killer games of the Squid Game series.
On the contrary, some of their relatives decided to stay, unwilling to risk being out in the open. The potential risks of this trip were highlighted by reports of a car being bombed, on the afternoon of Wednesday 16 March, as it was making its way from Mariupol to Zaporizhia; As a result, 5 people were injured.
Ludmila Rudishkina, an 84-year-old former principal at a city school, contemplated life away from Mariupol. "We have nowhere to live and nowhere to go," she said.
Searching for survivors
Meanwhile, rescue teams are still searching for survivors under the rubble of a theater in Mariupol, Thursday, March 17, 2022, after Ukraine said a powerful Russian air strike hit the building where hundreds were sheltering from the war.
This comes as Russian forces cordon off the city, which has seen some of the heaviest bombings in the conflict.
Responding to this increased Russian bombing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech late Wednesday evening, referring to the attack on the stage, "It breaks my heart at what Russia is doing to our people, to our city of Mariupol and to our Donetsk region."
On the other hand, Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Thursday that the allegations of Russia's bombing of the theater are "false," denying that Russian forces have targeted civilian areas since the invasion of Ukraine. "We do not bomb towns or cities," she said.