photo by Tetiana Sokolova
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On May 12, when Nurse’s Day was celebrated around the world, we spoke with Mariupol nurse Tetiana Sokolova, who managed to evacuate to Lviv. Since 1980, Tetiana has worked at the district maternity hospital №2 in Mariupol, where she was a midwife. The woman arrived in Lviv three weeks ago and currently is looking for a job here – she would like to work in a maternity hospital, or, she says, do something to help the military.
«My house, my city was destroyed. The district maternity hospital, where I worked for over 40 years, was bombed. After the Russian invasion, I still tried to work and help the needy, but eventually, I had to leave my home. I was left without a roof over my head, without a job,» – she says.
Tetiana says that on the night of February 23, she was on duty according to her schedule. At 5 am, she heard a terrible explosion.
«The occupiers fired on our maternity hospital, the shock wave on the high floors blew out the windows. After two hits, my doctors and I went to the wards, reassured the women and provided assistance. At around 8 am, the panic subsided a bit, and all the employees came to work and started discharging women from the hospital,» – she said.
The woman recalls that, despite the shelling, there was still water, gas and electricity in Mariupol until March. Today, people there are without electricity and water, and more than 90% of buildings are destroyed. Tetiana says the heavy shelling began on March 2, her family decided to go to the bomb shelter of the hospital where she worked, and on March 3, the woman took over to help people.
«It simply came to our notice then. On March 4, no one came to replace me at work, I had to continue working. In total, there were several doctors left in the maternity hospital, whose shift was lingered for a long time. During the shelling, pregnant women came to us trying to escape the war. We agreed with our colleagues that while we were needed, we would work,» – she said.
Read also: Her last time at home was in 2014. The story of a pregnant mother with four children from Horlivka
According to Tetiana, they managed to equip a maternity ward in the basement and brought there the necessary equipment: beds, medicines, etc. Within a month, 27 babies were born in the basement of Mariupol.
«When there was heavy shelling, we knew we needed to escape. At that time, Russian troops came to us, offering evacuation to Russia. Some people who were with us in the basement left, but most stayed,» – says Tetiana.
Those who remained began to look for transport to leave the city. After finding it, they left. Along the way, says Tetiana, there were many Russian checkpoints where Russians checked phones and deleted photos. The road from Mariupol to Berdyansk lasted 13 hours.
«We stayed in the city for 5 days, waiting for the humanitarian corridor, but it might not be, so we decided to take a risk and go to Lviv. Our convoy consisted of 13 cars, 12 arrived,» – she said, adding that a woman and her husband arrived in Lviv on April 29. Their son’s friends took them into their apartment. The nurse is currently looking for a job at a local maternity hospital and says if she can’t find one, she will help the military at the hospital.
Antonina Kostyk, translated by Vitalii Holich
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