“I saw people die near the shopping centre,” says Illia from Mariupol. – “I was scared for my children, my mother, my wife”. When the gas was cut off, the family cooked outside. “Three mines hit where we were cooking during the day. A 10-year-old boy and a young woman were killed. A small child was orphaned.

We went to the basement. It was +8 there. We took the sofas down there. We were looking for food. We shared it with our neighbours. We stayed in the basement for 9 days. Every time there was an explosion, my wife grabbed the child and tried to escape. Later, the russian military came. They did not let us out of the basement for two days.”

On March 23, the family was able to leave. Illia ended up in a filtration camp in Manhush: “They took pictures of all the tattoos. There was no food or water. They checked us at every checkpoint.” He still does not know where his mother and brother are.