She stayed in Mariupol until the end and wishes to return. A story of the young mother from the ghost city

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«The Russians took my home for the second time.» Originally from Makiivka in the Donetsk region, Mariupol resident Kateryna Kaliuzhna narrates how she with her husband and a small son fairly decided to stay when the war began, but later used their chance to leave.
photo: azov regiment page on medium.com

photo: azov regiment page on medium.com

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Back on February 23, I did not think that Russia would invade our country so cynically. My family and I planned how we would spend the weekend. Of course, even at that time, it was clear that the situation was quite unquiet. But I did not expect that the next day around 5 am, explosions will start almost all over the country.

That morning did not start with coffee. I got a call from a friend who was in Odesa with her family and said that the country was at war. A few minutes later, a message with similar information came from the husband’s sister who lived in Dnipro. At the same time, the husband was alerted to work.

I didn’t let go of the phone for most of the day. Constantly monitored the news, talked to friends and acquaintances from all over Ukraine. It was very difficult to realize that the country was at war. At that moment, there was fear, hatred, faith and hope.

We had the opportunity to evacuate in the early days. But my husband and I made a firm decision to stay in the city of Mary. We felt that we would be needed here, we would be able to do everything in our power.

Read also: A story from Mariupol. How people are still living under the yellow-grey sky and waiting for salvation

Almost every day was similar. The shelling was constant, we lived without communications. We sat with the child first in the corridor, then in the basement. Despite the fear, faith in our defenders did not leave us even for a moment. I am still confident that we will survive and will definitely return to a Ukrainian Mariupol.

We became very close with our neighbours. Together lit fires, sawed firewood, cooked, ate, laughed and cried, hid during the shelling, believed and prayed. We even promised that after the victory, we would all gather in our yard, light the fire of peace and arrange a real holiday.

What shocked me the most was the brutal shooting of apartment buildings by the Russian military. They knew perfectly well that peaceful people lived there. We lived on Budivelnykiv Avenue, and saw from the window how shells flew into the apartment, how the house burned down in a few days. In our district, our house was almost the only one where the projectile did not hit.

The ten-year-old son of my relative was very afraid of explosions. He spent most of his time in the hallway, where he felt safer. When we put the children to bed at night, he said, «I will not undress. There is a war on the street, and I would be without pants.» My son is still young and, thank God, he did not understand what was happening then.

March 15 was the first morning when people did not go outside to cook. The shelling was so strong and close that even strong nuts could not overcome their fear.

As soon as I fed my son, another shelling started somewhere near the house. Surprisingly, the network, which was absent so long, functioned. Kyivstar caught it in the kitchen, and a friend from Kyiv «broke» into my phone. I talked to her, standing near the window. They started beating from «Grad» missiles. I saw them – and in a second, I pushed my son and fell to the floor with him. Glass flew, and we crawled into the corridor.

For an hour, the son sat in his arms and did not move. And I looked at one point and prayed. I was not scared. The thought flashed through my head that this was the end. But the man interrupted these thoughts. He came home from work, went down to the basement and exhaled: «Alive. And now, quickly go up to the apartment. We are going.» Where – I did not know. I didn’t care. I knew one thing: this hell will end soon.

When we left, I could not recognize Mariupol. All around – fire, glass, destruction and peaceful bodies, innocent civilians. On the way out in the Primorsky district, I saw a picture that is still in front of my eyes: a broken private home, near which the bodies of two people, covered with a sheet, and a dog. And next to him is a man digging a grave, where he will bury them in a few minutes.

When we left Mariupol and the Internet caught up with us, we saw my mother’s and grandmother’s house online. The photo, which shows how the projectile hit it, flew around the first columns of many foreign media. As it turned out, a few days before that, we took our mother, grandmother and two of their cats to us. I’m even afraid to imagine what would happen to them if they stayed there.

I still can’t realize that Mariupol has become a ghost town. It just doesn’t fit in my head. Every day I see photos of the broken city and cry. The Russians took my home for the second time. For the first time – in 2014 in Makiivka (Donetsk region), the second time – now in Mariupol.

It is even difficult for me to imagine how the people who remained in Mariupol survive now. Constant shelling, no food, water, hygiene. It’s unrealistically scary.

However, I sincerely believe in our victory, in every soldier, in every volunteer, in every conscious citizen of Ukraine, in the world community. We will rebuild Mariupol, like all other cities affected by the Russians. But we will never forgive!

Published on the Medium page of «Azov»

Translated by Vitalii Holich

Follow us on Facebook. Lviv Now is an English-language website for Lviv, Ukraine’s «tech-friendly cultural hub.» It is produced by Tvoe Misto («Your City») media-hub, which also hosts regular problem-solving public forums to benefit the city and its people.


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