‘Bukvy’ continue to post Mariupol stories of Russian war crimes against civilian population.

This is the story told on Facebook by Oksana Glushchenko whose mother died in Mariupol.

 

April 30. Mom is gone. A landmine in Mariupol. Dad brought the remains of the body home in a wheelbarrow. That’s all we know now. There is still no connection. We don’t even know the date of death. Dad is there alone now.

Updated May 27. There has been no contact with the parents all this time. Today, May 27, we learned that my mother died on March 31.

Updated June 20. Only today, June 20, I can share with you this terrible story that happened to our family.

Mom and Dad were going to collect the humanitarian aid and to find a place to contact us. Dad was walking behind. At 10.00 there was an explosion.

Mom stepped on a landmine. My father was hit by the explosive wave. His chest was injured and ached for a long time then. The right eye was also injured. A chain with a cross was blown off from his chest by the explosion. When he regained consciousness, he ran to my mother.

Her legs were torn away. She calmly told him that she felt fever. Dad took off her outer clothes. She asked for a drink. Dad gave her water, she made only one sip and did not manage to do the second.

At 10:08 Mom died of blood loss. Dad spent the last 8 minutes of her life kissing her and talking to her.

There was no strength to pick her up and carry her home. He was exhausted by constant bombardments, staying in the basement, lack of proper nutrition. The day before, a phosphorus bomb hit the yard and my father was injured by the explosion. My mother stayed in the basement with the Bible in her hands all month and prayed.

Dad went home for a wheelbarrow and when he returned, he loaded my mother and drove her home. It took all day.

At 2 o’clock in the morning my mother’s body was at home. Dad found dense cellophane in the yard and wrapped the body. None of the neighbors agreed to help bury, because of shooting in the street. Dad said that he was not afraid at all, and that the horrors that happened to them were worse than in the movies.

Under fire, he approached the tank and asked to be allowed to bury his wife. The military let him pass. He arrived at the cemetery. All graves were turned upside down by the explosions.

He started digging a grave. They started shooting at him. He shouted back to aim better.

He dug a grave and buried my mother.

He is 72.

 

Now he goes to my mother’s grave every day and brings fresh flowers from the garden. At home, he talks to her portrait.

He keeps telling us this story over the phone. The other day, as he was telling, he cried out. I have never heard my Dad crying before.

Dad is still staying in Mariupol. He does not want to leave. He has 3 dogs and 4 cats there.

For 4 months, there has been no water, gas and electricity supply. The mobile connection is very poor.

When he speaks to us, he feels a bit relieved.

He says it is a Stone Age there. There is not enough food. The humanitarian aid is very rare. In this hot season, Dad has to cook in the yard on the open fire. Cats and dogs have lost weight.

Dad loves reading; during sleepless nights, he now reads because good people brought candles to him.

My mother’s name was Olena. She was 68.