Ukraine war: Evacuees afraid of ‘bleeding to death’ as they describe escape from Azovstal steel mill
- Anna Zaitseva fled the plant with her six-month old baby and said there were times she lost hope, because she ‘thought everyone forgot about us’
- Several women evacuated from Azovstal said they were strip-searched in tents by female Russians and checked for tattoos or scars
Margarita was sure, up to the last moment, that she would be killed running for the buses waiting to save civilians like her from months of terror under Russian bombardment in the holdout Azovstal steel works.
“I never thought I would see sunlight again,” the 23-year-old Ukrainian told Agence France-Presse on condition her full name not be published.
“I was thinking if a bomb hits, please let it kill me instantly. I don’t want to be handicapped. I was afraid I could end up bleeding to death,” she added.
A dramatic humanitarian effort is carrying to safety the last of the hundreds of civilians who were stranded in bunkers under the site, where Ukrainian fighters are making a last stand against Russians seeking full control of the key port city Mariupol.
03:29
Ukraine’s Azovstal steel plant under heavy siege before Russia announced a ceasefire
But to escape they have had to pass through Russian “filtration” sites where several evacuees said they were questioned, strip-searched, fingerprinted, had their phones scrutinised and documents checked – and checked again.