Her children had “wonderful jobs” and she was a designer engineer with “great pensions.” Today, she’s homeless.
Irina said that she had nothing. She stood behind the ruined remains of her house, wallpaper peeling away from the walls. “We are homeless. … They have destroyed everything. We don’t know where to go.”
Mariupol is a port in the southeast of Ukraine and has been under attack by Putin’s troops since weeks. Civilians who are unable to flee from the attacks continue to be without food, water and gas. According to Ukrainian officials, there are approximately 100,000 civilians still trapped in Mariupol.
Irina and her eight-member family have suffered from the lack of essentials. She showed Reuters that they only had two buckets of potatoes, a bucket of onions and eight pieces of frozen fish.
They are making soup with the ingredients they have, but don’t think it will last very long.
Irina stated that the soup will be prepared for four days. “Four days for eight people. Because there isn’t any food. It is important to understand it.
Genadiy was another long-time Mariupol resident. He worked as a shoemaker in Mariupol for 37 years, before the invasion.
He told Reuters that he proudly worked as a shoemaker, but was left with nothing. As he carried his belongings out of the house, he heard explosions in the distance. “No workshop, none work, nothing. … It’s very frightening to be left alone. “I have to dress and shoe my children somehow.”
Many people are losing their homes due to the cold. According to The Weather Channel Tuesday night will see a low temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Winds are expected to gust up 30 miles an hour.
Vladimir, a Mariupol resident, said that “nothing is left”. I live in a bathroom. A small bathroom and a stove are all I have. There is no roof. There is nothing.”
