The tragedy of an Azerbaijani family from Mariupol

Baku/18.04.22/Turan: A citizen of Ukraine, Lala Babayeva, who rescued from Mariupol besieged by Russian troops, spoke about the horrors and evacuation experienced in an interview with the Azerbaijani service of Voice of America. She lived with her family in Mariupol for 14 years. On April 11, together with her two children, she managed to escape from the war-torn city to get to Azerbaijan.

Prior to this, for more than a month, the family hid from Russian bombing in the basement. Once they managed to leave Mariupol for Berdyansk, but there they also fell under the bombing and were forced to return to Mariupol.

The second time they still managed to move to Odessa, where the diaspora organization "Unity of Azerbaijanis in Odessa" helped them leave Ukraine and return to Baku. Babayeva spoke about the severe humanitarian catastrophe in Mariupol.

“There is no food, everything is closed, people are hungry. No water, electricity, gas. My children were almost deafened by the roar of the bombs. We have endured great stress, we have seen a huge number of deaths in the city,” Babayeva said.

Sometimes bombs and shells break through basements where people hide and they turn into ashes. Babayeva said that when the war began, her husband was working in Poland. She and her two children moved into the basement, and they hardly ever came out. It was very cold.

“We went outside and cooked food on the fire. It is difficult for children to explain that there is no food, no water. We  ourselves did not eat anything, but gave water to the children in sips. People saved themselves as best they could.

My cousin died under the bombs. It was torn to pieces, even the remains could not be collected,” Babayeva noted.

According to her, people tried to leave the city in any direction. “We squeezed 9 people into a small car - 4 adults and 5 children. We didn't take anything with us, only water and two pieces of bread for the children,” Babayeva said.

In Azerbaijan, according to her, no one helps them. Moreover, they were rude to them at the Baku airport because of the coronavirus test.

Now Babayeva lives with her sister in a rented apartment with her children and is going to go to Lankaran to her mother.

“Here we receive treatment, but next week we will go to Lankaran. If we were helped, my children would go to school. But they don’t give us any help,” Babayeva summed up.—03B06-