Alisa and her family lived for three long weeks in the fire-torn city of Mariupol. They fetched water from a well, cooked over a fire and even got used to the incessant russian shelling. The woman says she was so used to the fact that there was nothing in the city that when she found herself in the territory controlled by Ukraine, she was genuinely surprised by the food in the shops, mobile phone service and even traffic lights. Alisa will always remember two of the most terrifying episodes of her life: how bodies wrapped in white sheets were buried in a dug trench, and the area near the mobile phone tower where she could call her loved ones. The only thing that came out of different mouths was the same: “We are alive”.