“No choice but to go to Russia”: families evacuate from Mariupol

After weeks spent in a cellar in central Mariupol, and the death of her father, who was killed in a missile strike, Tetiana, a 38-year-old accountant, told AFP how she decided to leave the city to rescue his daughter nine years old.

In the absence of a mobile network and any possibility of communication, he took advantage of the break from the bombings to go to a gathering place designated by the authorities, and find out about the possibilities of evacuation.

Evacuation officials, appointed by pro-Russian authorities, told him it was only possible to go to Russia.

We were surprised, we didn’t want to go to Russiahe said on the phone from Riga, Latvia, where he is now a refugee with his family.

” How to go to a country that wants to kill you? “

Within weeks, Ukrainian authorities had accused Moscow illegally transferred more than a million Ukrainians in Russia or the eastern part of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists, even using the term deportations.

A Russian Defense Ministry official Mikhail Mizintsev confirmed the number as one million. But Moscow makes sure its sole purpose is to allow civiliansclear out ng dangerous areas.

In fact, some civilians are sometimes forced to flee Russia, the fighting preventing them from crossing the front line. Lelyzaveta, who came from Izium – a town in the Kharkiv region occupied by Russia – thus landed in Estonia via Russia, because impossible to go to Ukrainehe told AFP.

But for Tetiana and two other families in Mariupol – where nearly three months of bombing have claimed at least 20,000 lives, according to kyiv – it was clearly chosen by Russian forces for them.

When a gunman tells you, you can’t tell him no

An employee of a large industrial company, Svitlana was also hiding in a cellar with her husband and her in-laws in an eastern district of Mariupol when Russian soldiers ordered them to leave for a controlled area. of Russian forces. .

When a gunman tells you, you can’t tell him nosaid this 46-year-old Ukrainian, who has since returned to Ukraine-in Lviv, not far from the Polish border-but asked to change his name to protect his family.

After crossing a road barrier, his family was first taken to Novoazovsk, a small town in the hands of pro-Russian separatists about forty kilometers east of Mariupol, where they stayed four days in a school, then to Starobechevé, 80 kilometers to the north. in the separatist zone.

They came to a crowded cultural center where people sleep on the floor, on sorts of tea towelssaid Svitlana.

” The worst was the smell of dirty feet, dirty bodies, it remained in our belongings after some washing. “

Three days later, the family was interviewed as part of a phase of filtration obligated.

In a pro-Russian separatist police building, they had to answer written questions to find out if they had relatives in the Ukrainian army, provide their fingerprints and smartphones for verification.

In a separate room, the men had to undress to prove the absence of patriotic tattoos or battle wounds.

My wife had to take off everything except her briefs and sockssaid Svitlana. We also deleted all photos and social media from our phones for fear of revenge for him pro-Ukrainian positionhe added.

You can’t say “no, I don’t want to”

Ivan Drouz, who left Mariupol with his half -brother in April, also passed through here filtration in Starobecheve.

He hoped to return to kyiv-controlled territory, but after five days of chaotic transition to pro-Russian separatist territory, when We asked how to evacuate to the Ukrainian side, told us that “is not possible”told the AFP the 23-year-old, who has since also taken refuge in Riga.

First, they make you tired, then they tell you you can only go one wayhe protested.

Arriving at the Russian border, he had to undress and answer questions about his Ukrainian exchange with his aunt: They asked why he wrote to me in Ukrainian at Wanted to verify that I was not a Nazihe said.

We understand that everything they did was against the lawadded Svitlana. But you can’t say “no, I don’t want to”.

Once in Russia, the families of Tetiana and Ivan were sent to Taganrog, about a hundred kilometers from Mariupol. When they arrived, Russian officials told them to take a train to Vladimir, more than 1,000 miles[1,000 km]to the north.

From there, Ivan and his brother again had to leave, this time to Murom, 130 kilometers to the southeast, to finally arrive at a hotel for refugees.

” This whole path is a series of choices we’ve already made for you. [Si personne n’a été enfermé ni menacé]everything is arranged so that people stay in Russia, as if trying to populate cities where no one wants to live. “

According to him, the hotel is full of Ukrainians – especially the elderly – who, for lack of money or knowledge of Russia, have no choice but to stay in Murom.

They wanted to send us away to their country so that we could not tell the truth sa genocide organized by Russia in Mariupol, accusing Tetiana.

Thanks to Russian friends, the families of Ivan, Tetiana and Svitlana were finally able to travel to Moscow. And from there take buses to Latvia or Estonia, where they know Ukrainian refugees are welcome.

When we arrived in Latvia, we finally felt freesaid Tetiana.