“Green corridors” from Mariupol have become the only hope for salvation for hundreds of thousands of civilians. The city is plunged into a terrible humanitarian catastrophe. Uliana Tokareva, who is a local resident, shared some information about the circumstances of the vital evacuation

If you have an opportunity to go now, you need to do it now

People’s exodus from Mariupol by their own cars creates an illusion of safety and illusion that the telephone connection works well, roads and fuel are available, that there is no shooting and so on.

Fights continue in the city. This is reported in social media. As before, there is still nothing in the city: no transport, no telephone connection, etc. Per the list.

It is almost impossible to get through to somebody on the phone. Almost all those who picked up the phone earlier have left by their cars or together with their acquaintances or neighbours, etc., as they learned that there was a chance to leave. With great risk under shellfire, but possible.

Otherwise, people become contactable again after they left the city. Only a few of them (this is rather an exception and cannot be considered a rule) can return and pick up someone else. The reasons are different – from lack of fuel and car malfunction to the need to take care of their own children in an unfamiliar city.

We must not condemn those who do not return or go “empty”, because we are not in that situation. It is good that at least they themselves left.

One can only be endlessly grateful to those who try to take someone else, some passengers with them. Many people who got to the transit points remain there because the cars are faulty. They then need some other transport to be able to go further. Why are there so many faulty cars? Constant shelling – damaged cars and roads, a lot of debris, glass, and fragments on the roads.

Some desperate people on their cars could help, but it is all a risk to life.

I definitely cannot ask anyone about this, even for my family. I am sure that there are such people, but they are actively working even without us [asking]. The city is very big.

You cannot find any private carriers for more or less reasonable payment or even for big money.

That is why if you have an opportunity to go now, you need to do it now. If there is a chance to take more people, then do take them or tell your people who are reachable by phone to do so. For example, in public bomb shelters.