by Gleb Garanich and Leonardo Benassatto
ZAPORIJJIA, Ukraine, May 15 (Reuters) – A large convoy of cars and buses carrying refugees from Mariupol arrived in the Ukrainian-held town of Zaporizhia on Saturday.
The refugees left Mariupol and reached Berdyansk and other localities before traveling the 200 km which separated them from Zaporijjia.
Nikola Pavlov, a 74-year-old retiree, lived for a month in a cellar after his apartment was destroyed. A relative managed to get him to Berdyansk by using “backdoors”.
“We barely made it. There were a lot of old people among us, it was a terrible trip. But it was worth it,” he said as the convoy arrived in the middle of the night.
An adviser to the mayor of Mariupol had announced earlier in the day that between 500 and 1,000 vehicles made up this evacuation convoy, the largest since the start of the Russian invasion.
Iryna Petrenko, 63, said she stayed behind in Mariupol to care for her 92-year-old mother, who has since died.
“We buried him close to the house because there was nowhere to bury people,” she explained.
“My parents’ house was hit by a bombardment, all the windows were blown out,” said Yulia Panteleeva, adding that the house was empty at the time.
“I can’t help but think what might have happened if we had stayed home,” she added.
In Mariupol, only the Azovstal metallurgical plant is still in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers. (Written by David Ljunggren; French version Camille Raynaud)