Nadiia Savenko's parents did not believe that active hostilities were possible in Mariupol. They thought that everything would happen according to the scenario of 2014, when the occupiers were quickly driven out of the city. So the family decided not to leave, and it was a fatal mistake for them.
"In late March, there was an arrival near our house. We were sitting in the basement, and it felt like the house was on fire. My father went outside to check the situation. At that moment there was another hit. My father was killed. My mother was wounded because she also ran outside.
I was with my mother in the hospital, but there were almost no doctors or medicines. Unfortunately, my mother did not survive," Nadiia Savenko recalls the horrific events.
The girl was deported to Russia. Thanks to her relatives, she was able to return to Ukraine.
Nadiia's mother Kateryna Savenko kept a war diary, which we published in the Museum of Civilian Voices.