“Everything shook”: the last civilians leave the Ukrainian steel plant

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — Pale and gaunt, the last civilians sheltering in bunkers beneath a sprawling steel plant in the decimated Ukrainian port city of Mariupol arrived Sunday night in Zaporizhzhia, the first major Ukrainian city beyond from the front

Shattered survivors spoke of constant shelling, food shortages, pervasive mold, and the use of hand sanitizer as cooking fuel.

Ten buses slowly entered the deserted streets of Zaporizhzhia under darkness, transporting 174 evacuees from the Mariupol area. Among them, more than 30 of the 51 civilians evacuated on the last day from the Azovstal steelworks, where some 2,000 Ukrainian fighters are making what appears to be their last stand. Both Ukrainian and Russian officials have said that these civilians are the last non-combatants in the industrial complex.

“It was terrible in the bunkers,” said Lyubov Andropova, 69, who had been in Azovstal since March 10. “Water was running from the roofs. There was mold everywhere. We were worried about the children, about their lungs.”

The shelling was constant and it was feared “that our bunker would collapse,” he said. “Everything shook, we didn’t go out.”

The steel mill by the sea is the only part of Mariupol that is not under Russian control. Thanks to its maze of underground tunnels and bunkers, many civilians chose it as the safest place to shelter from the incessant bombardment of the once prosperous port city that has now been largely destroyed.

Just days after the war began on February 24, Dmytro Sviydakov took refuge in the bunkers with his wife and 12-year-old daughter. They entered Azovstal on February 27. It would be more than two months before they could get out.

Huddled in a bunker with around 50 to 60 people, the first month and a half was bearable, he said, but then the shelling intensified. They blew up a food storage area, and he and others resorted to scavenging, including searching workers’ lockers. Cooking fuel was also in short supply, but then they found that hand sanitizer, well-stocked due to the coronavirus pandemic, was a good substitute.

“What can’t you do when you have nothing!” he said, as he waited for a bus that would take evacuees from Azovstal to temporary accommodation in Zaporizhzhia.

Yehor, a steel mill employee sheltering in the bunker who gave only his last name, was in the bunker with his two children, his wife and their dog. He said that when food was scarce, the soldiers defending Azovstal would help.

“We wouldn’t have done it any other way,” he said. “I don’t know how long we could have survived, but we sure as hell wouldn’t have survived until today.” In the last days, they only had pasta, water and some spices left, enough for a soup once a day.

His family entered the mill on March 1 for security, he said, after he narrowly escaped being shelled while walking his dog.

Despite the widespread destruction of Mariupol, some of the 51 evacuees from Azovstal chose to remain in the city, said United Nations officials, who were involved in ensuring safe passage for the evacuees.

Two, a man and a woman, were detained by Russian forces. The woman, arrested on suspicion of being a military doctor, was traveling with her 4-year-old daughter. The mother and child were separated and the girl arrived in Zaporizhzhia with the rest of the evacuees, UN officials said.

But several hundred more who wanted to join the evacuation convoy from other areas controlled by Russian forces had to stay behind after Russia and Ukraine failed to reach an agreement on their evacuation.

“It was quite heartbreaking to see them wait and not be able to join us,” said United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Osnat Lubrani.

“Overall, in a 10-day period, we have been able to bring in a total of 600 people in very complex, high-risk and very sensitive safe passage operations,” Lubrani said, adding that the UN hoped to bring in more civilians. in the future.