Some people celebrate Easter, and the others are almost ready to celebrate the Victory… Meanwhile, our fighters hold their positions at Azovstal steel plant to the last of their strength. The ammunition and food stocks are almost depleted. Amputations are conducted without any anesthesia, as there are not enough medications.
Natalya and her son are now in Kyiv. Her husband is now defending Mariupol. The lady told us what’s going on in the hottest spot in Donetsk region.
«We learned how to take every word as his last…»
«The fight for Mariupol continues. Fighters live up to the order to «stand their ground till the last drop of blood». And these drops wean off day by day.
It is possible to de-block the plant. What it takes is the will, weapons and resolute actions. The troops are ready to fight, and they do. But they need resources. There are no opportunities left for guessing and taking time. It’s counting down to hours.
Several days ago, our forces survived the heavy assault, the strongest shelling in their lives. As the blockade of Mariupol goes, we feel what real hell is about. We learned how to express our thoughts down to the point during the occasional phone calls. We learned who to take every word as his last. We learned how to act. Herewith, we forgot about the tears».
The warrior’s wife urges the society to take decisive actions: ‘I turn to everyone: think what you can do at this particular moment to contribute and de-block Mariupol, while staying where you are. You can help the fighters via the volunteers’ HQ, or turn to the world asking them to act and give us weapons; you can act as a volunteer or join the Armed Forces of Ukraine, or at least pray. And now - do it!’.
Because it’s Mariupol where most of the military action is taking place now. Imagine what happens if it remains besieged within the coming few days.
My eight-year-old child draws boards to support Mariupol; he creates the ‘schemes for helping the fighters’ and develops ‘an extremely secret weapon’. The son has been cherishing this idea since late February. He was never afraid of the shelling here in Kyiv because he knew (and still knows) that the children of Mariupol suffer much more. He refused to eat because the children of Mariupol had nothing to eat. Even now, he asks: what’s going on there, and what do I do to help?
Hey world, they’re still alive. It’s not the end yet! But there’s so little time… Let’s act decisively and persistently! Is the entire world weaker than absolute darkness embodied in dozens of thousands of russian occupants that block, rape and kill Mariupol? How did we let it happen, and how do we keep letting it happen now?”
De-blocking by the means of construction set
While the military and politicians work to liberate the city in the real world, Natalya’s son Oleksandr conducts an imaginary «de-blocking prodecure» using his toys:
«The boy has been designing this procedure for several days. This building made from construction set is Azovstal. The spider here is Putin. The green bulbs are the bombs that they throw at Mariupol. The wooden details are ballistic missiles. And there’s a combat cat named Vasyl who bowed his head in deep thoughts…», Natalya says.
The lady is sad: «I can’t do anything about his games and worries because I’m there too, with my husband, all the time - in my thoughts and prayers».
Letters from hell
Natalya shows her phone chat with her husband. She just refers to him as «my man», avoiding to reveal his name.
There are brief scary messages:
«They dropped aviation bombs every fifteen minutes».
«There are more than 500 wounded in Azovstal. No medications. Limbs are dissected without anesthesia».
«They made holes with aviation bombs within the range of each 10-20 meters».
«One of the cluster rounds exploded over my ear».
Sometimes, there are optimistic messages: «They (russians) lost a company over three days, and that’s just in our sector». That message was delivered on April 22.
Photos come from time to time, too:
Here are the runs of Azovstal.
And there are the scrapped walls of the underground shelters:
The fighters’ faces are exhausted. According to Natalya, over two months of war, her husband lost 20 kilograms.
Speaking about the importance of giving weapons for Ukraine to fight, she cites Lina Kostenko, the famous poetess.
І жах, і кров, і смерть, і відчай,
І клекіт хижої орди,
Маленький сірий чоловічок
Накоїв чорної біди.
Це звір огидної породи,
Лох-Несс холодної Неви.
Куди ж ви дивитесь, народи?!
Сьогодні ми, а завтра — ви.
Sometimes, the mobile connection network is down for days, and sometimes it’s not there for weeks. And whenever they have a chance to talk again, the married couple shares… plans for the future. Natalya promises him to give birth to another child, and he promises her to travel together a lot: «I want to travel around Europe with you. To see the wild places of Ukraine, maybe not just Ukraine; to go to some faraway places with tents, sleeping bags and a fire seat…»
«I think I’d have changed pretty much everything in my life, if only I leave this place…»
The images belong to Natalya. The photos from Azovstal are made by her husband.
