Olha Markina survived Mariupol, where she thought every day: “At any moment, my head could be blown off — like our neighbor Natasha’s.” Her apartment building was shelled by russian tanks. Natalia and her husband hid either in the bathroom or behind a wardrobe while the walls were violently shaking. 

Not everyone managed to make it to shelters during the shelling. Bodies lay in the courtyard, while people boiled tea and cooked food among the dead.  

On March 23, 2022, Olha and her husband managed to escape the city. They walked on foot to Nikolske, then continued by bus through dozens of checkpoints. In overcrowded transport, they spent two days traveling without water. She says  she survived only thanks to faith and because she kept repeating to herself: “We must break free.”