On 26 February, Larysa tried to leave Mariupol, but was not allowed to leave at the checkpoint, as the road to Zaporizhzhia had already been shelled. 

He recalls walking a kilometre away under mines and rockets to fetch water. How the "DPR" occupied the western part of the city. That's why we were afraid to go far from home. Only to get firewood and water. "Explosions, burning houses. All this constant horror. We did not sleep at night. The house was shaking. Plaster was falling off. I saw many dead people along the road. I was no longer terrified. Old and frail people were dying of hunger, fright, and without medical care. Some bodies were wrapped up. As the old man was walking, he fell. There was no one to clean up. I still don't understand how we survived. The horror and death were close by. You could not go crazy. It was scary. I read about hungry eyes. But I didn't know what they looked like. People were looking at salted cucumbers as if they were a delicacy," said Larysa, a resident of Mariupol.