Drinking rainwater and eating stray pigeons, such is life in the devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol

Young Galyna Balabanova has spent the last three weeks under siege in her hometown of Mariupolin the southeast of Ukrainewhere their neighbors have come to collect rainwater and cook pigeons they found in the streets to survive the encirclement of Russian troops due to the lack of basic supplies.

“The neighbors got together and enabled the basements as shelters. Now they collect rainwater and cook pigeons and other animals in bonfires in order to survive. There are hardly any medicines in the city”Balabanova tells Efe in a telephone conversation.

SIGHT: Russia bombs a school that served as a shelter for more than 400 people in Mariupol

Mariupola city of half a million inhabitants, is one of the hardest hit in this conflict and almost 70% of the houses in the city have been damaged by the bombing, according to municipal authorities.

LEAVING MARIUPOL

Balabanova managed to get out of Mariupol on March 16, the same day that the Ukrainian authorities accused the Russians of attacking the drama theater of the city, where hundreds of people were hiding in the building’s air-raid shelter.

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“At the time of the bombing of the theater I was just leaving the city and I only heard it. On the outskirts of the city, from the (humanitarian) corridor. It was perfectly visible how the city was being attacked from all directions and by all possible means”, recounts.

The young woman used one of the humanitarian corridors enabled to evacuate the city, but these steps were attacked.

A residential building damaged by bombings attributed to the Russian Army in the city of Mariupol. (EFE/Galyna Balabanova).

“Miraculously we were not caught by the shots. From that moment we continue in our private transport and do not use the official corridor, at our own risk. Along the way there were more than 20 checkpoints of men in Russian uniform who inspected the car every 500 meters. We wanted to cry helplessly, because we were leaving family and friends behind in the city.” points out.

The Ukrainian authorities have been opening humanitarian corridors to evacuate the civilian population from some of the country’s most important cities attacked by the Russians, but the Mariupol corridor is practically blocked, something that world leaders and international organizations are calling for a solution to stop that their neighbors can flee.

As stated yesterday by the deputy prime minister of UkraineIryna Vereshchuk, “not all humanitarian corridors are working” and pointed out that at least 4,100 people have already managed to leave Mariupolamong them almost 1,200 are children.

“In the city I saw the Russians, but only from afar, since at the time of my departure the city center had not yet been occupied. I saw their cars, combat vehicles and tanks. I also saw them at the checkpoints outside the city, where they tried to psychologically torture those leaving the city, showing their pseudo-strength.” it states.

THE WORST MOMENTS

Balabanova is one of thousands of people who have managed to flee Mariupol, where water and food reserves are running out and practically no humanitarian aid has been allowed in at this time, according to the UN World Food Program.

“Mariupol it has been subjected to artillery, air and tank attacks every hour. All the streets, without exception, and most of the houses are destroyed (…) The factories, in which more than 15 shelters were located, were attacked every day”indicates.

Columns of smoke rise from a residential area in the city of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine and besieged by Russian troops. (EFE/Galyna Balabanova).

And not only those buildings, but also schools and hospitals, since Ukrainian authorities accused Moscow of bombing a children’s hospital more than a week ago, which caused three deaths, two of them minors.

However, Russia He denied that he was behind this action in a city where more than 1,200 people have already died since the invasion began, according to municipal authorities.

“The worst moments were when there were six planes at a time circling the city and carrying out attacks continuously. It scares me to think about what the situation will be like there today.” Explain.

Among her tragic experiences in the town, Balabanova says that people came to her and her family from the most distant neighborhoods to ask for help.

“They wondered where the authorities, the mayor and even the funeral home had gone. They wondered why they now had to bury their loved ones in their own gardens.“, it says.

But, for her, the hardest moments are now, as she lives the situation helplessly: “Now that I am out of danger and I cannot help those who write to me asking me to get their loved ones out of besieged Mariúpol or even if Bring them water and bread.”

“They have not limited themselves to besieging the city, but have decided to erase it from the face of the earth,” he concludes.

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Source: Elcomercio