Although Katya 2 and Vanya (and the cat) were able to get on an evacuation bus in Berdyansk yesterday, they still haven’t made it to Zaporozhia. The Russian roadblock at Vasylivka (about an hour south of Zaporozhia) is doing everything possible to annoy, harass and delay people. Viktoria says that the soldiers are probably shaking down people for money and valuables, and she’s probably right. (Vasylivka is also where many cars came under fire during the first days when cars were reported as making it out of Mariupol.)

A follow-up article on the Mariupol city website says that eventually buses and cars were permitted to get on their way, but we haven’t gotten word as yet of Katya 2 and Vanya arriving. The plan had been for them to go immediately to the train station and get the evacuation train today, but clearly that didn’t happen. And since a weekend curfew has been declared, it’s very likely that there won’t be any trains over the weekend. Fortunately there are resources set up for the refugees, so they should be OK for a couple days. Zhenya’s been in touch with a friend in Zaporozhia who will help get them on the train.

As further proof of Russia’s total turn to Nazism, they have taken to driving commandeered/stolen buses around Mariupol with “Zaporozhia” as the destination. The people picked up are driven to Donetsk instead, in the Russian controlled part of Ukraine. Forced evacuations, just like the Nazis did to Ukrainians in WWII.

It’s also being reported that the staff, doctors and people sheltering in City Hospital 1 were also forcibly evacuated to Russia. No confirmation of this so far, but the information coming from the Mariupol City Council has been proven to be pretty accurate (though I think their number of civilians who have fled the city tend to be rather large and optimistic and may not be fully accurate). I’d posted a story about how this hospital had been weathering the attack; I guess that annoyed the Russian so much they had to put an end to it.

Viktoria read today (on one of the many Viber channels she’s be following since the war started) that the apartment block with her mother’s and son’s apartments was on fire. Before it sounded like it was just the end of the building, unfortunately where her mother’s apartment was located, but now it seems that the entire building may have been engulfed. She also read that the next apartment block over had been destroyed. I haven’t been able to find any pictures or other confirmation, so I don’t know for sure.

Based on the pictures coming out of Mariupol, this development is certainly possible. You’ve probably seen plenty of images, but here are some pictures on the city website showing some of the destruction. With the possible/likely loss of her family’s apartments, Viktoria feels she’s become homeless. She grew up in her mother’s apartment. It was the “permanent address” that everyone could rely on and use. Her son’s apartment was just one entrance over. Like I wrote earlier, he’d taken possession of the family photo albums after V’s mother passed away. If there’s been a fire through the whole apartment block, it’s likely those albums are now lost. So Viktoria feels that she’s lost everything — her past, her city, her home.

What’s worse is that some of those Viber channels that V has been reading have been inundated by Russian users. Almost to a person (I’m told by Viktoria) they call reports of damage and destruction false, as if the people living there don’t know what they’re seeing. It’s to be expected, when so many of the Russian people have only one source of news — government propaganda. You’ve probably seen or heard the report about what the response was when a son living in Ukraine contacted his father in Russia about the war (if not, here a link to a video on CNN and a write up on the New York Times). So many people not only denying but actively arguing against the reality of things in Ukraine, and Mariupol in particular, are not only galling and infuriating, but really upsetting for Viktoria.

Prior to this news, the mood around here had definitely improved. Granted, still a lot to worry about, but things were seeming more positive. Viktoria was more in productive problem-solving mode — next steps for Katya 2 and Vanya — rather than doom-scrolling for hours on end. But with her “home” in Mariupol apparently destroyed, the cloud has fallen again.

It would be really nice if some of the gains seen by the Ukrainian forces around Kherson and Kyiv were also happening around Mariupol. So many news reports are saying that although the Russian objectives for those two locations have been stalled or stymied, they (the Russians) have managed to achieve most of their goals in the south. I hate that narrative, and I want to see everything the Russians have done in and to Ukraine since 2014 utterly undone. I want Viktoria to have her “home” back, and if we’re very lucky, some of her past will survive.

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.

This is a Telegram posting from the Mariupol City Council channel (lightly edited for translation clarity):

Of the six buildings, only one remains more or less intact. For more than 120 years, a medical institution, started as a small outpatient clinic, has become one of the leading hospitals in Mariupol and the region. 130 doctors who served 70,000 patients a year. Complex operations, high-class professionals and thousands of lives saved. This was City Hospital No. 1 before the war.

In the first days of the blockade of Mariupol, ambulances brought 10-15 wounded to the hospital. But just a few days later, due to the constant shelling of the Russian invaders, the number of wounded began to grow at a terrible pace. It got to the point where ambulances didn’t have time to get everyone who needed help. And in a few days there were no ambulances arriving — most of the cars were destroyed, and the remaining ones could not get to many places due to completely destroyed roads.

Wounded Mariupol residents began to be brought on stretchers by relatives or neighbors. During the day, around 100 or more people would arrive at the hospital. And everyone needed help: somewhere to bandage the wound left by a fragment of a shell, someone to perform an urgent operation or stop heavy bleeding. All departments of the hospital went into emergency mode. Every doctor, every nurse worked to the limit of their capabilities. And this is while the shelling continued outside. Of the six hospital buildings, only one has survived.

Medical staff now work in the basements of the hospital. Mariupol residents are treated in basements, where candles remain the only source of light. Fuel has been saved as much as possible, so diesel generators only run for complex operations and hemodialysis. At the moment, it is no longer possible to provide the necessary medical procedure for cleansing the blood for renal failure patients.

But in the basements of the hospital it is not only medical staff and patients. Residents of nearby homes also found shelter in the hospital. In general, at different times, the City Hospital No. 1 sheltered from 600 to 700 people. Food for people, while it was available, was cooked on fires on the grounds of the hospital campus.

But despite the extremely difficult situation, doctors continue to heroically fulfill their mission — to save lives.

“I believe that Ukraine will win and we will return peace to our Mariupol. Together we will begin to restore our hometown and our hospital. We will restore everything,” Larysa, a doctor of the City Hospital No. 1, says with hope in her voice.

It sounds like all (or most) of the family and friends have gotten out of Mariupol. But Viktoria’s mother’s apartment is now gone.

Zhenya was able to talk to Katya 2 today, but not for any length of time (bad signal, low battery, etc.). However he was able to get some updates, which he then relayed to Viktoria. Today, Katya 2, her son Vanya and their cat left Mariupol on foot, and walked 8-10 miles to a neighboring town. Apparently there had been rumors in Mariupol that buses were in this next town to evacuate people. Once she was out of the city a bit, she was able to get a signal. It sounds like there was a fighting along or heard from that highway, but they were able to make safely, and are spending the night in a school there. Not sure what will happen tomorrow, but at least they’re out of Mariupol.

Katya 2’s mother, Nellie, and Nellie’s friend (and possibly one or two others from the basement) left Mariupol yesterday, also on foot. I’m not sure of the details here, but it sounds like they might have traveled the other direction, toward Russia, because they have relatives over there.

The other group — Baba Katya, Rodion (Viktoria’s nephew), B. Katya’s niece Oksana and Oksana’s family — were able to leave by car, today or yesterday, I’m not sure which. Oksana’s husband had a car, but it sounds like it was damaged a bit from the shelling and may not have had a lot of gas/diesel. But I guess things were adequate enough (they were probably able to scrounge up some diesel), so everyone piled in and joined up in that convoy of private cars heading to Berdyansk. Beyond just their departure, there hasn’t been any real status update.

Viktoria’s sister Inna is a mystery. Apparently she would just come and go from the shelter at the apartment block, and was often seen (often with her “boyfriend”) roaming around outside. Since Inna’s companions always tended to the unsavory side, Viktoria thinks she was probably out burglarizing apartments for food and alcohol. In any case, she didn’t spend all her time at the shelter and definitely wasn’t part of the groups that left.

The catalyst to all this, as if anything beyond the war and shelling was needed, may have been the loss of Viktoria’s mother’s apartment. Although it wasn’t directly hit by artillery or gunfire, the adjoining apartment complex suffered damage and was on fire. Winds in the area then blew the fire to “our” apartment block, and V’s mother’s apartment caught fire. Without any emergency services, it’s quite likely that it will have been a total loss.

So, some positive developments it would seem. I will give updates as they become available. There’s still no word on Viktoria’s grandson and his family; fingers are still crossed. I should point out that the information here might not be completely accurate. Viktoria was up all night and with this news, was in something of a manic state. This, coupled with her usually convoluted story-telling style, means I might have some of the details confused; I’ll correct and clarify things as needed.

While the city might be all but gone, at least most of the people closest to Viktoria are on their way to safety (or, at least, more safety).

Three weeks is how long Mariupol has been without electricity (and subsequently, heat) and water. It’s hard to know when the last supply trucks might have come, but that was probably about three weeks ago as well. Communications were still up for a few days after the electricity went, but it’s getting close to the three week mark for that as well. The war itself is getting close to one month.

The news for Mariupol has not been good for the past few days — not that it’s been good since Putin decided to “liberate” the city from vertical buildings and people. Russia added on-shore bombardment from ships in the Azov Sea. Some people who managed to escape the shelling in Mariupol and get to a nearby town, are still being subjected to the blocking of humanitarian aid by the Russians. So, they’re still in danger of starving to death. And apparently Zhenya got a message from some woman who used to live around Artem’s house. She said that she had seen Artem’s house with artillery damage, but that was days ago. (So, really nothing helpful.)

The city website had an interesting article that put together several of the smaller stories that have been happening into a more cohesive narrative. I’m not sure how much has been verified elsewhere, but it does largely fit with known and reported facts.

Specifically, I’d noted several days ago that Russia forces were looting the humanitarian aid that was being set to Mariupol. Apparently, the Russians have begun to distribute portions of that aid to citizens in occupied areas; it’s being used as PR about the “liberation” efforts of the Russian forces. The Russians also took evacuation buses that had been provided by Ukraine (and the big company, Metinvest, that owns/runs Azovstal), and said they were buses provided by Russia to evacuation people “to safety.”

That “safety” is apparently supposed to be Russia. I’d noted yesterday statements from the Mariupol government about people being taken from Mariupol — in some case, forcibly — to camps in Russia. I’m seeing the reports in several places, but almost all going back to the same source. I’d really like independent confirmation, but given all the other pieces, this involuntary resettlement seems entirely likely. From the article:

“Mariupol resident O. told 0629 [the city website] that his relative was thus taken to the Rostov region. She lived in a left-bank area. It is now almost completely cut off from the rest of the city. The woman saw the buses, grabbed her belongings and left. It’s good that she had money, she’s not a poor person. In Rostov, she took a bus to Moscow, and there – on a plane to Istanbul. The woman is now in Europe. But not everyone succeeds in this way. Some Mariupol residents are sent to the northern regions of Russia. What is happening to them now is not yet known.“

Forced relocation was also done by the Nazis in WWII. In Putin’s warped world view, it would seem that using Nazi tactics to depopulate a city is what “de-Nazification” really means.

The full article is really worth a read. It’s in Ukrainian and will need to be translated, but definitely worth it.

I’ve seen a couple notes about it but no real confirmation. An aide to the mayor of Mariupol has said that some citizens are being taken to Russia — presumably or apparently not by choice. When they arrive any Ukrainian documentation they have is taken and destroyed. Waiting to see this in more authoritative sources. (If this is happening, it’s probably the citizens of the eastern parts of the city. The fighting has only recently come to the center of the city, when family and friends were located.)

I’ve seen it opined in a couple places: the Russians need to take Mariupol. They need it so they can conceal the extent of their war crimes. This need wouldn’t exist if they hadn’t started committing war crimes in the first place.

It’s almost as if this siege of Mariupol was specifically designed to hurt Viktoria. First, her family and friends are trapped in the city. Then they’re cut off from the outside world, so V can’t keep track of their status or help direct their outcome. Then the Russians start destroying the city she’s known best for the bulk of her life. And for the past couple days there have been reports of the fighting and destruction of the Azovstal steel mill, where V was employed for 30 years, her one and only job. Seriously, the Russians couldn’t come up with a better script.

I’m always pleased to hear about how well the Ukrainian forces are doing. Tank columns destroyed, Russian forces pushed back, towns and settlements recaptured — all wonderful accomplishments. I also like hearing about the social and financial pressures being put on Russia as a whole. While there are times when I feel badly for the common people for the suffering they will have because of the sanctions, the fact that 70% of people polled support Putin’s war does tend to evaporate such sympathies. I learned critical thinking in grade school, and I have little sympathy for people who don’t educate themselves, especially if they keep hearing only one side of an issue from all their media sources. There are always multiple sides to anything, even the most obvious thing. (People are people, and some of them be contrary.)

Just give Ukraine the MiGs! They are for defense and that’s how they can be expected to be used! Sure, they could be used to go on the offense, but so can Stingers and other “defensive ordinance” that the US has no problem giving to Ukraine. If we aren’t going to help Ukraine close their skies, then at least we shouldn’t stand in the way of them improving their air superiority — and maybe making those numerous bombing raids against Mariupol far more costly to the Russians.

Some of the people who have made it out of Mariupol described their experiences on the city website, here. I was struck by one woman’s description of living in basement/bomb shelter. (Translation via Google, with a little light editing for clarity.)

“I still can’t understand how people can worry about such nonsense, like having an old phone or not enough salary. Not a single hryvnia was useful to me in our basement. And the phone died the day after the lights went out. My little nephews slept dressed. Not only because it was hellishly cold, but also because if a bomb falls while we are sleeping and we survive, it is better to get out from under the rubble in shoes and jackets.

“You know, after ten days of constant shelling, I began to feel it beginning. I had a disgusting emptiness in my chest and not enough air. I was lying on two chairs, in a compartment with gray, icy walls. Above me and below me were the pipes, next to the boards and mattresses were my family with white-haired little nephews, my friend’s family, and Angie’s dog, whom we dragged and pulled out of the basement by force. She categorically did not want to walk in the yard covered with ashes and glass, not a minute.

“Walking a dog was hell. Because they bombed incessantly. I opened the front door a little, pushed the dog out, and watched frightened as she first ran down the steps, trying to find a place among the fragments on the scorched earth, then her ears flattened, and a nearby mine disgustingly squeaked and exploded, and she ran back. We waited a minute and started anew. I stood in the doorway and cried. I was very scared. Angie was also very scared, but she didn’t cry; she looked at me from below with brown eyes. She could not understand what was happening.

“Our basement consisted of many compartments. Many had people. In one, even very tiny children. Next to us was a family – an adult son and his elderly mother. They were very calm and reserved, treated our children to sweets and cookies, gave us butter and lard because they were going to leave. Our children were so scared that they ate almost nothing. But the candies and cookies were swallowed right away. It was a real treasure and a little joy in the gloomy dungeon buzzing with explosions. They even had fun.

“Seven-year-old Varya asked me to tell about Peppa Pig for the first time since the beginning of the war, and she even believed me when I promised to buy her any doll as soon as we came out of the basement. Malyavka only clarified: ‘The shops were all robbed, how can you buy?’ I replied that no toy store was touched and all the dolls were in place.

“I looked at her round face, tangled hair, small nose, scarf-wrapped neck, and thought, ‘Suddenly I’m lying to her?’ I kissed her cheeks and dirty palms, and my heart ached. I wasn’t sure we would survive tonight. Varyusha (Varya) demanded and clarified: ‘Really, you will buy it? When?’

“Her brother Kirill hardly spoke to us. He was very scared when we were in a different basement in a private house and there was a direct hit on the roof. The roof caught fire and everyone had to leave. We ran to the garage under terrible fire. Everything around howled and exploded, and Kiryukha (Kirill) shouted, covering the mines: ‘Mommy, please, mommy! I want to live! I don’t want to die!’

“Please, all who can tell about Mariupol to the whole world. Mariupol residents are being killed. Hundreds of children were in the basements with my nephews. Many are still sitting there. They want to live. They are very scared.”

The other survivor stories in the article are worth a read as well. (Try this link for an automatic translation of the article page. If it doesn’t work, you can always copy and paste text to Google Translate.)

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.