The last days of Mariupol One family’s tale of siege and survival
On the final day of March, soldiers of the self-proclaimed Donetsk people’s republic entered the basement in Mariupol where Svitlana and Vitaly were sheltering.
“You have 15 minutes to get ready and then you’re leaving,” shouted one, waving a rifle. According to the Russian narrative of its Ukraine invasion, it was the day Svitlana and Vitaly were liberated. But it did not feel like that to them.
Instead, it was the end of one ordeal and the start of another: a wearying and humiliating journey through socalled “filtration” procedures, followed by forced deportation to Russia.
The siege, destruction and conquest of Mariupol have been well-documented, but Svitlana and Vitaly’s experiences provide a vivid illustration of the unexpected terror that was visited on this city of half a million people over the past months.
Until late February, the couple lived in a compact but cosy one-room flat on the eastern side of Mariupol, with Svitlana’s two children
