Svetlana Kuricha arrives with her family today (19) in Zaporozhye, Ukraine, after experiencing attacks by Russian troops in a residential area in Mariupol, a port city in southeastern Ukraine.
Mariupol has been bombed by Russian forces since the very first days of the invasion and there has been difficulties in obtaining civilians. leave town, already Zaporozhye suffered its first bombing This week.
About 200 km separate these cities. The three-hour journey may now take three days to complete. On the way to Zaporozhye, several checkpoints established by the Russian army block the free passage of the inhabitants of Mariupol.
“We live in a residential area of Mariupol and we were bombed by planes and rocket launchers. My house was targeted,” he said. svetlana When Kuryacha manages to get out of his city,
According to him, a man was shot and his body was lying on the ground. “The dogs fed on his body, no one went to take his body,” he said. She claims that Russians are attacking residential areas. “Tanks and soldiers are on the streets,” he says.
On Tuesday (15), a the bombing of a theater that served as a civilian refuge in Mariupol, One injured was left in critical condition. The city is considered strategic for Russia as it has a main port in the western part of Ukraine.
If the Russians captured the city, for example, an army commanded by Vladimir Putin could unload more supplies and troops for their troops by sea.
basement for 14 days
Svetlana also reported living with her family for 14 days in the basement of their house. “We heard that a house was damaged near where we live and we went for help,” he says. Elders used to live in this house, we could not let them burn.
Russia has taken the Mariupol population “hostage” for Svetlana’s daughter, Kristina Cherkes. “Because if there are no civilians, it is more difficult for Russian forces to engage in confrontation with Ukrainian forces, who are motivated and on their territory,” he explained.
The people who lived across the street from me, they all died in the fire. Now only your bones are left on the floor
Svetlana Kuryacha
They speak Russian and Svetlana was born in Russia. “Putin is killing Russian speakers, Putin is destroying cities where Russian is spoken the most. They are Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kyiv [capital ucraniana]”, pointed to.
* Collaborated with Ana Paula Bimbati from UOL in So Paulo
