I really don’t understand the obsession Russia has for Mariupol. I understand the strategic importance of the city, but if you’ve reduced the city to ruble, there isn’t a city anymore and that really brings into question the strategy. If it’s a matter of Mariupol “being in the way” of moving troops and equipment between Donbas and Crimea, Russian forces already control areas north of the city and could just go around; it’s not really in the way. So what’s with the obsession of beating the city into submission? Did it run over Putin’s dog? Say things about someone’s mother? Or maybe there’s just some petty, feckless tyrant hiding in Moscow who sees this as a way to be thought of as a “world leader.”

I really want Ukraine to keep hold of Mariupol (or, if need be, retake it from the Russians), because I really want to see the city rebuilt. I hope that much of the Zhenya’s apartment block — and especially his apartment — survives the shelling and any subsequent fires. I want that because Viktoria’s history is there, both in the city and the apartment. After her mother died, she asked Zhenya to get all the photo albums out of her mother’s apartment, so they wouldn’t accidentally be lost when the apartment was eventually cleaned up. Hopefully those albums will survive all this, and she and I will be able to visit the city again.

Now some updates on the family and friends situation(s):

• Katya 2, Vanya and the cat (Sofichka, if you were curious): When they left Mariupol, they followed the highway heading northwest out of the city and ended up in Nikolske. Walked 24 kilometers (18 miles), with the sound of fighting never too far off. The school in Nikolske was set up for those fleeing Mariupol, so they were able to stay there, get food and some decent rest. Today they caught a ride (or hired something, I’m a little fuzzy) down to Berdyansk where most of the evacuation buses have running. They might be there for a day or two, since there are a lot of people and the buses only hold so much. However, things do look very good that they’ll be able to get to Zaporozhia and from there catch a train headed west. The general plan is for them to meet up with Zhenya, get to one of the borders and then travel on to Vienna, where Viktoria’s friend lives and can help out. Beyond that things are still a question mark, but fingers crossed that they’ll get refugee status either in the US or Canada.
• Baba Katya, Rodion, Oksana and family: Not much of an update here because Viktoria hasn’t been able to reach Katya. They left Mariupol by car on Monday, but instead of heading west toward Berdyansk, it seems like they may have gone more north-northwest. Viktoria thinks that Oksana’s husband (Andrei) has a grandmother on a farm just past Staryi Krym and they may have gone there. I’d mentioned before that they probably didn’t have a lot of fuel for the car, so this might have seemed like a good option. But if they’re still in the general Mariupol area, they still might not have cell service and hence the lack of contact.
• Nellie and her friend: Nellie is Katya 2’s mother. She and her family were originally from Donetsk and moved to Mariupol after the first invasion. Here too we haven’t gotten much information, but it’s possible that these two would be trying to get “evacuated” to Donetsk. Also, since Nellie’s husband and grandmother were last in Volnovakha — which is under Russian control, what’s left of the town, that is — Donetsk might be the best option for them to reunite. Fingers crossed.
• Artem, Katya 1 and family: Still nothing completely definitive, but perhaps some hopeful news. Viktoria has been working overtime, monitoring and networking on ever possible chat channel she can get on, trying to get information about Artem and his part of the city (as well as the apartment block). There hadn’t been a lot of news and what there was hadn’t been very encouraging. However, today she was able to get in touch with a truck driver in Europe who has been in contact with his daughter who lives/lived in the area. From him V learned that Artem, Katya 1 and her husband have been staying with the husband’s mother. Still generally in Mariupol, but apparently everyone is still safe. It seems that most of the shelling and fighting has moved on from that particular area, so it’s another fingers crossed situation.

Updates as they become available.