Together with her family, Svitlana was surviving in Mariupol on the second floor of a building on Mytropolytska Street. They couldn't go down to the basement because of the inconvenient stairs. 

"We were sitting in the vestibule. On March 8, the holiday, a neighbour Maksym brought flowers. It was the last day of a more or less peaceful life. On the 9th, the horror began - planes from 5 in the morning, our house had no windows, everyone was sleeping in the vestibule. They were killing us not only by planes and mortars, but also by Grad’s.

A hit in front of the entrance. Explosion, screams. A car with gas cylinders exploded. Maksym, 30 years old, neighbours Iryna, 35 years old, and Larysa, 60 years old, were standing there. Ira was killed immediately by shrapnel. Maksym started burning. He screamed so much... Now I know how a person who is burning alive screams. He jumped into the entrance, fell. Pool of blood from Ira, burned Maksym. Larysa died the next morning. Until March 15, we lived with three dead bodies," Mariupol resident Svitlana said.