Life in Mariupol becomes very difficult for the few Ukrainian civilians who remain there. On March 23, 2022, around 100,000 failed to flee and still live in the ruins or shelters of Mariupol. Despite everything, some brave the bombs that fall relentlessly on the city and flee. The road leading to Zaporijia, 200 kilometers away, has been used by tens of thousands of civilians for ten days. But this route is particularly dangerous: mines and artillery fire threaten those who take it.
Sitting on a bench in the center for displaced people in Zaporijia on Thursday, March 24, next to her dog and a bag of clothes, Zinaïda has one leg in plaster and looks overwhelmed. Three days earlier, she was in the basement at her home in Mariupol when the bomb fell: “There was a great crash, everything shook, the house was shattered” she says.
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Unharmed, Zinaïda and her family fled in a van. But, in the confusion, they take a wrong route and are stopped by another explosion: “The van ran over a mine. The rear shattered, my leg was broken, as was my little niece.”
Lying on the bench next door, the little girl with blond hair clutches a brand new soft toy, between two fits of tears. A psychologist is at his bedside: “She is very stressed because she has lost contact with her parents. She does not know if they are dead or alive”she says.
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Relieved despite everything to have all arrived in Zaporijia after this journey, Zinaïda barely touches the sandwich that was distributed to her: “I feel very bad. I’m afraid of everything, I jump at the slightest noise. I’ve lost everything, it’s appalling.” A few minutes later, a volunteer accompanies her and her little niece to a car. She flees to take refuge with her daughter in kyiv, where the bombs have already scared away half of the city’s population.