Ukrainians who fled the Russian-controlled strategic city of Mariupol after a week-long siege said they were forced to leave for Russia rather than elsewhere in Ukraine because “we had no other choice.”
Tatyana, a 38-year-old accountant, told AFP that after spending weeks in a basement in downtown Mariupol, after her father’s death in a rocket attack, she decided to leave the city to save her nine-year-old daughter.
In the absence of mobile phone networks and any other means of communication, she took advantage of the pause during the explosions to go to the assembly point indicated by the authorities and inquire about the possibilities of departure, as well as about the persons involved in the evacuation, appointed by the pro-Russian authorities, told her then that it was possible to leave only towards Russia.
For weeks, Ukrainian authorities have accused Moscow of “illegally transferring” more than a million Ukrainians to Russia and areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Moscow separatists.
The figure was confirmed by Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Mikhail Mizintsev, but Moscow says its only goal is to allow civilians to “get out of dangerous areas.”
Some civilians are sometimes de facto forced to travel to Russia as fighting prevents them from crossing the front line.
