There is plenty of news being reported about Ukraine — and rightfully so — but it’s not always the news one needs or wants. I do my best to stay up on everything but as my posts have reflected, my focus increasingly has been directed to the events of Mariupol. Very understandable. But I’m a piker compared to Viktoria.

Unfortunately, she’s not getting all the news she really wants. The information she wants falls into to basic categories: family and friends, and the status of those parts of Mariupol that she knows best. From the first days of the war, news about or from Mariupol has been scarce, almost an afterthought. Sure, far more people have heard of “Kyiv,” but Mariupol has been on the front lines for years and was the most likely place to see combat from the start. Apparently that makes it a big snooze in news-terms.

In the absence of any significant coverage about Mariupol — and because there’s been a nearly half-million people trapped there without supplies, water, electricity or communication for over 2 weeks — assorted local information sources have been popping up on various social media platforms — Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, Viber, etc. Some of these have been useful, some have been scams.

Since some people have been able to get out of the city, one of the biggest new channels has been information about the people who have escaped and who has not. Through one such source, Zhenya was able to get in touch with someone who had information about his apartment block and the people there. Some good news in that regard: everyone is alive and hanging in there (as of 2-3 days ago). Hungry, cold and scared, but alive. The building itself has taken some damage and principal fighting has been only yards away. Unfortunately, there’s been no news on Viktoria’s grandson Artem; he was with his family on the eastern side of the city, not at the apartment block in the middle of town.

All this information has been welcome and appreciated, but it hasn’t been enough for Viktoria. It’s been a rather frantic couple of days, with her calling every possible number that shows up on those social media channels. She wants to know about who has escaped, what the status of things are at the building, and particularly about her grandson. Usually she seems to forget about the time zone difference, and tries calling in the middle of (their) nights, only to be frustrated when there’s no answer. She monitors these channels for any information, and does what she can to provide answers and ask new questions. It’s getting to be almost a mania for her, and depending the news she sees, she can change from determined and hopeful one moment, to depressed and fatalistic the next.

As with all things, it’s the lack of knowing that’s the worst. She gets some information, but it’s not enough and it hasn’t been what she wants to hear: that her family and friends are safe. If she gets that news, then I think she’ll be able to ride out the rest.