“Everyone was buried there.”ĭespite fierce Ukrainian resistance, by mid-March the Russians were moving into the city. “We buried the father in the park behind the house,” she said. But the danger of bombardment was ever-present.Īnother woman, Vira, told of a blast that killed her neighbor and tore off his four-year-old son’s arm. With no gas or electricity, those in hiding had to scrounge food from ruined markets and cook on open fires just outside their hiding places. “They sat in the darkness for a month.”Ī basement used for shelter by Mariupol residents. In fear of shelling, “we didn’t let the children out,” she said. We gave them just half of a little bottle at a time.” “We got water from the boilers and really limited the children. “The hardest thing was the water, we had practically none,” said Olena, who sheltered with her nine-year-old daughter and mother, along with other families, in the basement of a local kindergarten. To survive the assault on their city, Mariupol’s residents crowded into bomb shelters and basements, where some spent weeks while hardly setting foot outside. The Ukrainians interviewed for this story have been identified only by their first names, or pseudonyms, to protect their relatives who are still in Russia or occupied territory. ![]() Some of these deportees later managed to escape, but many remain in Russia, left to an uncertain fate. Even the Russian Orthodox Church has played a role in receiving them. A number of non-military agencies - including the security services, the police, and the emergencies ministry - took part in these procedures. Once they arrived in Russia, traumatized and exhausted from days of deprivation, several described a reception by Russian emergency workers and charities that made them feel they had become the subject of pro-regime propaganda. ![]() On their way east, the deportees described a series of interrogations and so-called “filtering procedures.” They say Russian officials took their fingerprints, examined their bodies for pro-Ukrainian tattoos, and searched their mobile phones before sending them on toward Russia, often separating them from their loved ones. Several told reporters that deportations began before the city was even fully occupied. ![]() Since there was no choice, we believe it’s coercion.”Īccounts from refugees themselves supported his statement. “Or if they went to Russia and could then return to territory controlled by Ukraine. "It would be ‘voluntary’ if they had a choice,” he told. Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor, claims that many were sent to Russia against their will. Once home to over 430,000 people, Mariupol now has less than a quarter of that number. (Photo: Maximilian Clarke/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire) ![]() Residents of Mariupol stock up on supplies in a bombed-out neighborhood in early April. Families cowered for weeks in damp basements with hardly any food or water. To get a clearer picture, OCCRP’s Ukrainian member center spoke with ten people who were taken to Russia, almost all from the occupied southeastern city of Mariupol.Īs the Russians advanced on the city this spring, aircraft and artillery blanketed it with daily shelling that left entire neighborhoods uninhabitable and killed thousands. Researchers and human rights groups have been unable to make independent assessments, though sporadic reports of involuntary deportations have appeared in the media. Where they differ is the interpretation: While the Russians call them voluntary evacuations in the interests of safety, Ukraine says its citizens are being forcibly deported in violation of the Geneva Conventions. Similar figures have been cited by both governments. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, over a million Ukrainian citizens have been taken to Russian territory. (Photo: Jaanus Lensment / Ekspress Meedia) They later made a risky escape to Europe. Ukrainian officials, and many refugees themselves, say they were forced against their will.Ī refugee from eastern Ukraine who unwillingly found herself in Russia with her two sons. Countless Ukrainians have ended up in Russia since the invasion.
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