The road from Mariupol to Finland
Some Mariupol residents are forced to travel either to separatist-held areas in Ukraine or to Russia.
Denis Fedotov He lost three fingers in the Russian bombing. She and her pregnant husband traveled from Mariupol, Ukraine, to Russia and from there to Finland. Russia He says that border guards stripped them naked, searched them and interrogated them for hours.
“It was a psychological interrogation. They would ask that, Ukraine Do I know the soldiers, what did I eat yesterday, why did my wife and I rent an apartment near the military base in Mariupol? – Fedotov told RFE / RL’s North.Realities portal.
“Fintegration camps ”
20 old Fedotov 19-year-old wife Victoria Kuznetsova shares the most difficult experience of his life with. They are a bag in their house in a city under siege by Russia and came out with the eight mice they kept at home. They passed through checkpoints and went to Russia, where they sold all their valuables and went to Finland.
The couple is currently in eastern Finland, Russia They stayed in the town of Joensuu on the border with Azerbaijan, applied for asylum and waited for the birth of their son.
Fedotov was wounded in the arm by a Russian bombing of Mariupol on March 23, and his friend was wounded in the leg. When he arrived in Finland, he learned that his friend had survived.
Mariupol is isolated from the world, and it is impossible to independently confirm what happened in the city. Near the city and Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russia has reportedly set up “filtration camps” to check evacuated civilians.
Ukraine Officials say at least 95 percent of the port city has been destroyed and more than 21,000 people have been killed in the siege.
“Dogs are torn to pieces”
“They opened fire from all sides. One day neighborflour shells fell on his house, all the windows were broken. People survived, but the dogs were torn to pieces. Every day, when I went to bed, there were explosions, and when I woke up, “he said. – Fedotov spoke.
The couple first went to separatist-held territory. Russia At least one million Ukrainians have fled fighting to Russia. Some Mariupol residents are forced to travel either to separatist-held areas in Ukraine or to Russia.
The pregnant woman was taken to a hospital near Donetsk due to the risk of premature birth in Kuznetsova. The couple does not remember the treatment of them there. At the hospital, a nurse told them she “hated Ukrainians.” As soon as Kuznetsova’s condition stabilizes, they decide to go to Europe. Fedotov’s parents decided to go to Russia and return to Mariupol as soon as possible.
UN Ukraine As many as 14 million people have been displaced by the war. 8 million of them are IDPs, the rest had to leave the country.