The Yemelianenko couple, Tatiana and Vitaliy, managed to leave the almost completely occupied Mariupol, Donetsk region, on 24 March 2022, together with their children, 11-year-old Victoria and 9-year-old Vladislav. Prior to that, for a month they had been trying to survive in the city, which was constantly bombed by Russian troops: they stayed in the basement of the city hospital No. 1 in the Kalmius district almost around the clock. Once, when the street became a little quieter, they were able to go out and get mobile phone reception, then called their friends who had left earlier, and they suggested a route to get out, and then, having organised a convoy of 10 cars with their friends, they drove together far away from the fighting.

We were driving through Melekine to Berdiansk. They miraculously survived the journey (on the way out of the city, they could hear the loud sounds of artillery, and shells exploding nearby from time to time) and recall with horror the month in war-torn Mariupol, when there was no electricity, water or heating, they had to stay almost constantly in a damp basement, cooked food on a fire, found it very difficult to find food, and faced continuous danger and uncertainty.

There was no exact route to follow. On the Internet, we found the phone number of the “Good on the Amur” Charity Foundation’s centre for IDPs in Dnipro, called it and, after making an appointment, went there. At that time, the shelter building was still almost uninhabitable: there were many people and difficult living conditions. Later, it became easier and more comfortable, and the family got a separate room and began to live here. It is not known whether her home in Mariupol has survived, but it is unlikely, given the state of the Ukrainian city, which was almost destroyed by the Russians. Today, these people thank their fate for surviving the horrific conditions of the war, for being able to set up a new life in a new place, and, like all Ukrainians, they are waiting for victory.