“It was horrible. Cars and houses were burning. We saw a lot of corpses”

Olena Baraniuk was the principal of school No. 52. The last time she came to work was on February 28. She took her documents and employment records. Together with her husband, she tried to survive in the basement of their building in Cheremushky. They cooked their meals over a fire. They survived the cold, lack of communication, and constant shelling.  

“It was horrible. Cars and houses were burning. It was scary when we heard airplanes. We saw a lot of corpses near the roads and houses. It was impossible to get to the school. But we were looking for our friends to help them get to another area. And we managed to get several families out,” says Olena, a Mariupol resident. 

When she left, she found all her teachers and workers. That’s 140 employees. And almost all the children. That’s 1040 students. Unfortunately, six of them were killed. The Russian military also killed five teachers.