Ukraine war: The obsession of a teacher holding a child stuck for 65 days in a bomb shelter in Mariupol’s ‘pan of fire’

Continuous shelling

For months, Ukrainian resistance forces hid beneath the tunnels of the Azovstal factory while Russian forces tightened the siege, trying to gain full control of the port city of Mariupol.

Teacher Zaitseva’s husband, a former Ukrainian marine, has already left the army and is working at the Azovstal steel plant. Meanwhile, Zaitseva is a French teacher at a school in Mariupol.

When Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, the young couple decided to go to Azovstal to take shelter with their 6-month-old baby son. Zaitseva’s husband then joined the notorious Azov regiment – which Moscow viewed as a neo-fascist force.

The first bomb shelter the Zaitseva family lived in had no place to sleep, only benches to sit on.

Teacher Zaitseva shared: “We sat for a week on the couch. It is very dangerous to go outside, as shelling will begin immediately. My son and I only dared to be on the ground for 5 minutes a day to stand and breathe at the entrance to the building.”

Food runs out

Food supplies were gradually dwindling but distributed among more and more people. Teacher Zaitseva and her son at this time moved to a second shelter. They will live here for the next 58 days.

Zaitseva said the new bomb shelter was about the size of a three-room apartment but was inhabited by 75 people, of which 17 were children.

During her time hiding beneath the Azovstal, Zaitseva witnessed numerous unsuccessful evacuation attempts.

For example, on April 25, Zaitseva lifted her son to the ground with some Ukrainians and two Russian prisoners of war to prepare to evacuate, but failed because of shelling. In the end, they had to return to the bunker.

“Four of our soldiers were injured and one of the prisoners was killed. We had to quickly escape back to the bunker,” Ms. Zaitseva said.

Later that day, a three-ton bomb hit a building above their bunker, leaving them stranded until morning. When the Ukrainian army dug a way out, they were saved.

Finally, Ms. Zaitseva and her son were able to leave Azovstal after more than two months of living underground thanks to Russia and Ukraine reaching an agreement to evacuate civilians still trapped inside the steel plant.

After leaving the bunker, they were searched and questioned by Russian female soldiers. They also had their phones confiscated. In addition to Russia’s regular army, Zaitseva said, she was also questioned by an FSB officer.

Currently, Ms. Zaitseva is staying with her children on the territory of Ukraine. She hopes her husband, who is being held in Russia, will soon return safely,