Irina Mi lived in Mariupol until she was seventeen, until she moved to study in the capital. The war once came to her family’s house, and now the story has been repeated not only in her hometown, but also in Kyiv instead of a rose, the woman had to flee to Munich because everything was dangerous.

In the first month of the full-scale war, I turned 20 years old

I was born in a wonderful city on the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov – in Mariupol. I lived there until I was 17, and then I moved to Kyiv to study. Every year, of course, I came home to visit my family, my cats and the sea. My favorite pastime was make-up and shooting. I styled photo shoots, did makeup and hairstyles for girls. Psychology has existed since the early years, because I have a natural flair for it. Really excited a few years ago.

On February 24, at 5 am, I woke up from a nightmare that continues to this day. Then I cried from the bitter and painful flashback. I already knew these sounds. It never occurred to me that the war had caught up with me again, but this rose in Kyiv. Sometime in 2014, we hid in the basement of my grandparents’ house for almost a month. The shells then passed us, but hit the neighbors and along our street. I was a twelve-year-old girl and knew how to tell the difference between the arrival or departure of a hailstorm, a tornado, a mortar, or a shot from a tank.

That terrible morning my nightmare came to life. My “anxious suitcase” was assembled in 2014 and I never disassembled it. I knew what would happen next. But I could not imagine such a scale and such a level for my city, where I could always be the future. Home. To my grandparents. In the house where I spoke the first word, for the first time I suffered from unrequited love, for the first time I was happier than ever… Now I have no home, no tiny homeland. 

While I lived in Mariupol, Azovstal prevented me from breathing. Now I’m not in Mariupol, but I still can’t breathe calmly because of him

War changes benefits. Previously, the residents of Mariupol did not want factories to pollute the air and dreamed of closing them. They dreamed that the city would become a resort. And now we are all praying for Azovstal to survive.

This is not a NATO base, not a laboratory for the development of chemical weapons, as the Russian media say. This is a factory in the shelter of which civilians of Mariupol. They have been hiding there from airstrikes and shelling for various months. Along with them are many wounded soldiers who defended the city to the last. The last sip of water, a piece of food, the last cartridge and a breath of air.

People need an immediate evacuation. It doesn’t matter if they are civilians or military. Time is killing them all now. Countdown is every minute.

Mariupol was my place of strength, and since the beginning of the war it has been hell on earth

What the Russians have done to my hometown is unforgivable. Never forgive and under no circumstances. The way the occupiers mocked and continue to mock people is not forgotten!

Once only the sea could calm me down in the difficult moments of my life. And now it has been replaced and its waters are held by enemy ships, which ruthlessly continue to destroy Mariupol. It is unlikely that now my sea will be able to bring joy to someone in the coming years.

I do not believe this is happening. My native streets are simply gone. The buildings of people close to me and friends were destroyed. Which will remain there forever… Bright memory to all the dead and unborn. Health to those who managed to get out of the blockade. It will be dawn after dark!