Surviving the bombardment of Mariupol

A survivor who escaped the besieged city of Mariupol in south-eastern Ukraine has talked about whats been happening to him

A survivor who escaped the besieged city of Mariupol in south-eastern Ukraine has told about his experiences sheltering from Russian shelling, Qazet.az reports.

Artur Shevchenko had been in Mariupol with his family since the start of the war until finally escaping three days ago.

"It was terrible. A lot of bombing, a lot of shelling all over the place," he says of his time in a shelter with around 60 other people. "I heard the rockets. It was maybe 15 metres from our hiding spot."

He describes how people in the shelter were forced to live off polluted river water and a diet of buckwheat and rice.

"Our city is not ecologically safe because of the plants and factories. We were boiling [the water] on the fireplaces. "We were afraid to leave the shelter but we had no choice."

He continues:  

"It was devastating because we had no mobile connection and no internet. We were sitting five days under this siege and we didn't know what's happening."