Russian occupation leaves Mariupol devastated and desperate
"This is a mix of drug addicts, alcoholics, and criminal offenders," says a Ukrainian doctor in an interview. She recalls the first months after the war started: "What saved us was that we had a full tank of gas in our car."
The interviewee worked in a hospital in Mariupol when the Russian military overtook the city. Mariupol is located in the Donetsk region and is one of the most populous cities in Ukraine. Russians have occupied it since the beginning of the full-scale war, and it was illegally annexed in September 2022.
The Ukrainian doctor admits openly that when the Russians entered the city, the hospital didn’t have the strong medications they were interested in. But there were also shortages of other supplies that could help the sick.
Their army is a mix of drug addicts, alcoholics, criminal offenders, and prisoners conscripted into the army. They didn't even try to hide that they were junkies. They were like zombies. They showed their damaged veins. There was no place left on their arms for a needle, admits the doctor in an interview.
Russians in Mariupol: how they behaved towards Ukrainians
The interviewee adds that Russians often threatened to kill and beat doctors. The only thing that convinced them was the realization that if they killed the medical personnel, there would be no one to save them. The woman asserts that the invaders wanted to humiliate Ukrainians. She recalls dishonest residents of Mariupol who began to help the outsiders only after the city was taken.
"Some of our colleagues and doctors started collaborating with the Russians and hanging Russian flags in their offices. Some disappeared at the beginning of the siege of Mariupol and reappeared when the Russians took control, now as pro-Russian medics," she explains.
We were there for over 20 days, and it got worse each day. We couldn't help, often just waiting for the injured to die," says the woman. "The most seriously injured were in the basement. We went down to check if the person was still alive," the doctor says.
The woman recalls that when the Russians entered Mariupol, they forced men to strip. This was to check for patriotic tattoos or bruises from rifle butts.
She also talks about how the Russians destroyed the city, committing numerous war crimes. There was no water, heating, or food. The medical staff tried to sleep for 2-3 hours. The city also had a stench; everyone was dirty, and wounds were festering. When Putin's army blew up an apartment block, those who survived lived in the hospital.
After several days of the siege, we began to think about how to escape. What saved us was that on the first day of the war, we filled up the gas tank, and it wasn't shot or burned. In Kyiv, we always keep the car tank full," she concludes.
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