"I considered myself a strong person. But I broke down. I was scared"

Yuliia and her husband lived in the centre of Mariupol, in a house with a spire. Her father, Oleksandr Volkov, lived in the Kalmius district. He was a neighbour of Kateryna Savenko, who wrote a diary for 34 days. And who died on April 4.

"We had a bomb shelter. We did not buy food. It seemed that everything would end soon... In early March, we went to my father's house. It was already loud and scary there. But my father refused to go with us. That was the last time we saw Kateryna Savenko. When we were running out of the entrance, she grabbed my hand: "I will tell your mum that you are alive."

Day after day, we realised that something terrible was happening. There were more and more people in the bomb shelter. The windows overlooked Azovstal. My heart was breaking. We saw Livyi and Skhidnyi neighbourhoods burning. All our neighbours are heroic people. They helped each other. The military brought food. Every day we heard the same thing: "Help will come". But there was no help.

March 8 . I thought I was a strong person. But I broke down. I was scared. On March 15, we were able to leave", said Yuliia, a resident of Mariupol.