Azovstal eyewitness recounts her evacuation from Mariupol metal plant

Lydia was lately rescued from the Azovstal iron and metal plant after two months of Russian bombardment. She doesn’t wish to inform us her actual identify and the place she is at the moment residing, for concern of endangering her mother and father who’re nonetheless in Mariupol.

In her first days in a safe place nonetheless in Ukraine, she remains to be very disoriented and scared. She says she wanted every week earlier than with the ability to converse with anybody about her state of affairs. Her face seems drained and pale, and her eyes are full of terror — which solely eases as she begins talking about how her evacuation convoy lastly reached its vacation spot.

DW: How did you come to be on the Azovstal metal plant, and the way lengthy had been you there?

Lydia: I labored within the manufacturing facility and I knew that it had specifically outfitted air raid bunkers. On March 6, when the bombardments turned an excessive amount of to bear, my husband and I made a decision to search out security within the basement there. I knew it was protected. But we thought we’d solely be there for a few days. In the top, we had been there for 2 months.

How many individuals sought refuge there?

That’s onerous to say; throughout the previous few weeks nobody bothered counting anymore. In the start there have been about 30 of us, however folks had been all the time coming and going, new folks arrived. At one level we figured there have been about 47 of us, however the numbers had been continually altering. Before the evacuation it was inconceivable to say simply how many individuals had been there.

File photograph of smoke rising from the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal in Mariupol throughout shelling, in Mariupol, in territory beneath the federal government of the Donetsk People’s Republic, jap Ukraine. (AP)

Ukrainian authorities have stated the manufacturing facility was beneath fixed bombardment. Was it ever attainable to go away the bunker?

In the start we had been in a position to go exterior for longer stretches, however when the bombardments began to select up we solely went out to prepare dinner on the fireplace pit. In the top we simply stayed within the bunker. There are tunnels down there the place we cooked. From about April 20, we now not went exterior. We didn’t exit for the final two weeks.

Where did you get meals?

There had been provisions within the bunkers, positioned there by the manufacturing facility’s directors. But there wasn’t a lot — simply sufficient for a number of days. The bunkers had been constructed within the Nineteen Sixties when nobody thought folks could be there for very lengthy. There had been canned items, water, cookies and preserved meat. We stretched it so far as we might by making soup out of all of it. In the start new arrivals would convey meals, blankets and heat clothes with them. But not everybody shared their meals. Some ate beneath their blankets. Everyone is completely different.

What form of assist did the Ukrainian army present? Russian propaganda claimed they pressured you to remain at Azovstal towards your will.

No, my husband and I left and returned to the bunker a number of instances whereas it was nonetheless attainable. But when the heavy bombardments began we needed to keep within the bunker. Sometimes troopers got here in. They introduced sweets for the youngsters. They instructed us we had been free to go exterior however on the identical time they warned us in regards to the large bombing.

Were there sick or wounded folks within the bunker with you? Was anybody in a position to assist them?

There had been no wounded, however there have been individuals who wanted medical help. I wanted assist myself. I’ve a blood dysfunction and want every day injections however nobody might get them for me. There had been additionally individuals who wanted every day insulin injections however they couldn’t get them. One man had such excessive ache in his arm that he wanted painkillers. He screamed all evening lengthy.

Do you understand individuals who volunteered to go to the Donetsk area? Was it clear to you the place you’d be taken throughout the evacuation?

We knew completely nothing. Our troopers got here in and instructed us we had 5 minutes to get our issues collectively and go exterior to be evacuated. Those who had prepared backpacks received up and left. I do not know who was taken to Donetsk or Russia. When we received exterior we had been greeted by folks from the UN and the Red Cross. They instructed us we had been protected and that nobody would shoot at us. We might select the place we needed to go once we had been filtered.

Where precisely did that filtration happen?

I don’t know. It was at a spot I had by no means been earlier than.

What occurred throughout the filtration?

[Long pause, as Lydia drops her head and closes her eyes] I’m not going to speak about that.

How lengthy was the journey from the Azovstal plant to the place the place you got shelter?

I don’t know. I can’t even estimate. We left the Azovstal plant at evening and arrived on the filtration level round midnight. After that we drove for a very long time.

Who met you at your vacation spot? Did you obtain assist?

We had been very warmly welcomed! We obtained recent clothes and new footwear and we might wash up. People got here and had been continually bringing us meals, hygiene merchandise and different issues. We had completely no issues. We had been put up in a separate room the place we might keep comfortably and get a pleasing sleep.

Do you could have a spot to remain now? Do you propose to journey on?

I actually don’t know. I’m nonetheless unsure what precisely occurred. First I simply wish to relaxation. That’s all.