"Russia Massacres Like Catching Flies in Paris... On-Site Is Living Hell," Testimony of a Woman Escaping Mariupol

Residents are fleeing from their ruined homes in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on the 31st of last month (local time).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Residents of Ukraine, invaded by Russia, described the situation on the ground as a living hell, saying, "The Russian army is killing us like catching flies."

Recently, The Washington Post (WP) introduced the story of a middle-aged woman who barely escaped from Mariupol, a southern port city of Ukraine under concentrated siege by the Russian army.

This woman, injured by the Russian army's attack, is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Zaporizhzhia. She criticized, "We are like flies; the Russians are catching and killing us one by one. We are human."

The woman mourned that her daughter also lost her eyesight due to Russian bombing. Her son-in-law pulled her daughter out and moved her to a local hospital, but that hospital was also hit by a missile fired by the Russian army.

A woman in her 20s who escaped Mariupol with her boyfriend said that covering corpses on the street with blankets has become customary. When they find a human corpse, they put a paper with the name inside a bottle next to it to help identify the body later.

The woman, who risked her life to escape, told the media that she plans to return to Mariupol. Upon hearing news that the Russian army is forcibly removing residents left in Mariupol and sending them far away, she intends to rescue her boyfriend's grandmother.

Meanwhile, it is reported that about 3,000 people have evacuated from Mariupol, a major target city of Russia's attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a video speech to lawmakers gathered at the Dutch Parliament in The Hague on the 31st of last month (local time), appealing for support. [Image source=Yonhap News]

According to AFP on the 2nd (local time), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video speech that "humanitarian corridors were operated in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk (Lugansk) regions," and "a total of 6,266 people, including 3,071 residents of Mariupol, were successfully evacuated."

President Zelensky said that although the Russian army is slowly but surely withdrawing from the outskirts of the capital Kyiv (Kiev) and northern areas, caution is needed regarding explosives left scattered around.

He added that in the second-largest city Kharkiv (Kharkov) and the Donbas region, the Russian army is preparing airstrikes, and the situation in the eastern side remains difficult.

However, it has not been confirmed whether an actual evacuation route has opened in Mariupol. On the 1st, the Russian army announced it would open a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia to allow civilians to evacuate, but the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had not arrived in Mariupol.

According to the ICRC statement that day, 45 refugee buses that were supposed to follow the Red Cross team were also blocked by the Russian army and did not arrive. Because of this, the ICRC said a safe passage for civilian evacuation could not be established.

There are reports that Mariupol residents have individually escaped and moved to Zaporizhzhia, which is controlled by Ukraine.