The situation in Mariupol is becoming more dire each day. They’ve been on the front lines for 8 years, since the first invasion back in 2014, and the city came under a rocket attack in early 2015 (just before Viktoria came to the US) that killed a dozen and injured scores more. Although it had then been relatively quiet and stable since that time, the last few days have thrown the city back into the thick of things.

Viktoria’s family and friends remain safe for now, but the city is under increasing attack. Mariupol, like other larger cities, has been the target of shelling and is being encircled by forces to the north, east and west. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, wrote on Facebook that “Mariupol is under the Russian rocket barrage. The occupiers attack all districts of the city. Shelling does not stop … According to operational information, 21 wounded are already known. The number of dead is still unknown.”

About half of the city was without electricity and heat last night because rockets (Grads) had taken out some high-energy transmission lines. City crews were able to get them repaired but not until daylight. Hopefully they’ll be able to keep the heat and electricity tonight, because it is rather cold over there.

Being largely cut off from the rest of Ukraine means that supplies in the city are getting rather low. Katya 2 and Oksana’s husband (V told me his name but I’ve forgotten) went out yesterday to several stores for water and groceries. They ended up going to 3-4 different places because the cupboards are getting rather bare. They did score some water and a few other things; picked up some food for their cat, too. The city has some water and bread distribution points, but according to Viktoria, they aren’t close by.

Sadly, this is all taking its toll on Viktoria. She was telling me last night that she just felt numbed all this. She thinks this means that there’s something wrong with her, but I was trying to tell her this was normal. Emotional burnout and such. I don’t think she was overly convinced. It probably doesn’t help that one of the astrologers she watches on YouTube was predicting that the Russian war would last for 8 months. I’ve pointed out how wrong this person has been in the past, but part of Viktoria’s numbness may have come from the thought that, this time, the prediction might be right.

I’ll try to get some photos and videos from Viktoria and share those. As I’ve mentioned before, the news coverage of the big cities is pretty thorough, but news (and images) out of Mariupol aren’t as widespread.