People poured water from batteries to drink – Alex Yakutov about the blockade of Mariupol

Alex Yakutov was born and raised in Mariupol. And although he was in Kyiv at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, his heart ached for his hometown. He spent his childhood there and the people closest to him remained there – his mother and brother.

The other day the chef and expert of Ukrainian TV show “Kitchen Nightmares” entertained his fans with the news – his family managed to escape from hell. But not everyone was so lucky.

The Ukrainian TV-channel “New Channel” asked Alex what his family had to go through until they were safe.

 – When was the last time you were in Mariupol?

– In mid-February. Everything was calm, no one believed in a full-scale invasion. People built houses, planned to open and expand businesses. I came to advise restaurant owners, helped with the menu, talked to the chefs.

There was no hint of war. Only after returning to Kyiv did he notice that everyone was talking about the invasion, packing their bags and leaving. Then he called his brother, who lives in Mariupol, and advised him to go to Dnipro.

He took his family away, but he stayed at home with his mother. When it all started, he actively volunteered. He had savings, which he gave to the Armed Forces. While the situation in the city was more or less, he helped the military. Then I had to sit in the basement.

 – When did the connection with relatives disappear?

– From the beginning they managed to leave Mariupol for the village of Stary Krym. My brother wandered from the village to Mariupol for some time, helping the Armed Forces. Then the connection disappeared. DNR members came to the village. They came to search my brother and mother. After that, relatives began to hide in another house in the basement. And spent the whole week.

Then the brother got in touch and wrote that they were alive and well. And again the connection was broken. Later, at their own peril and risk, they left without any “green corridors”, taking another family with them. It was very difficult, they passed about 15 checkpoints of “DNR” where constantly stopped and arranged checks and interrogations.

 – Did they tell what was happening in Mariupol?

– I can’t even tell the tenth part, because it just doesn’t fit in my head. It is unbelievable that this could happen in the 21st century in a country in central Europe.

They told how the shells fell one after another, there was nothing to eat, no drink – just as people drained the water from the batteries and collected in puddles.

Imagine you have a three-month-old baby with a fever. It needs to be unsoldered, but you can’t. Because there is no water. And give your baby water from the battery, because this is the only source of at least some liquid. That’s what some of my acquaintances did – very wealthy people.

They also told how they could not bury people because the ground was frozen and dogs were dragging body parts. It’s all very scary.

  – You wrote on social media that a doctor who saved your life as a child died on March 20. Do you know how many more acquaintances you will not see after the victory?

– Nobody can say how many people died. It is impossible to count. After all, there is no connection with relatives! Yesterday my goddaughter finally got in touch. How happy we were! But we do not fully understand which of the acquaintances are alive and which are not.

My friend miraculously left Mariupol with his family and little granddaughter. A radiator was punctured in one of his cars, and wheels in another. Then he rode on the lowered. But his sister and mother went missing. They do not get in touch.

The father of my subordinate from the Publicist restaurant took retirees to the bomb shelter during the bombing. When he proved them, he sat down and died. His heart failed him, though he never complained.

Seven acquaintances fled to the shelter, three escaped. In some others, the grandfather came out of the store to smoke and returned with a fragment in his lungs. He died, and the body lay with them, because it was not even possible to bury him.

And the doctor I wrote about died at work. Anatoly Borisovich Kazantsev was a man of capital letters. He did not leave the patients, treated until his last breath. He was buried on the territory of the hospital.

 – How are your relatives now?

– My mother still can not get away from the experience. She just made the repairs she dreamed of. She thought that she would retire and live happily in a beautiful apartment.

She worked as an ambulance doctor for more than 40 years. Now she is constantly thinking about home, she wants to return. We have no idea in what condition the building and the apartment.

Nobody knows, because there are still intense battles. As of March 5, the apartment was intact. After all, the Azov Regiment was based nearby, we understand what air strikes could have been there. After the war, my brother and mother plan to return to Mariupol. They love the city and plan to live there, they want to go home.

 – Why do you think Mariupol is literally being wiped out with air bombs?

– I have a lot of questions about why Mariupol is so hated by rashists. After all, they do everything on the principle – do not pity anyone. Do not bomb point at warehouses and military units. I think there are several reasons.

The first is that they hate Azov. They did not give up Mariupol at one time. And now they are heroically defending the city without surrendering it to the enemy! The military is standing by, showing the world that Ukrainians will not give the enemy a single piece of their land.

And, perhaps, because Mariupol began a very active development. Compared to Donetsk, which rolled back 15 years under the DNR, Mariupol has made a space economic leap.

And this despite the fact that the city also got its time. It recovered, went forward. In recent years, Mariupol has changed a lot, it has become incredibly beautiful, the infrastructure was at a high level, the beaches were cleaned. Big money poured into the city, and people felt good and calm.

Maybe hatred is also because they do not want to see Russians there, they are not greeted with flowers. Although many Russian-speaking and ethnic Russians live in the city, they love Ukraine and want to live in Ukraine.

People became a problem for the Russian troops, probably because of this they decided to wipe out the city. This is easier than dealing with those who oppose the regime.

 – Did you imagine what could happen to your hometown?

– I suspected that with a full-scale invasion of Mariupol it would be difficult, but not so much. And inwardly I have a sixth sense of difficult events.

In 2013 he left Donetsk, although he had everything there. I worked as a chef in a good restaurant, studied abroad, I had a good life. But he was not able to stay there anymore. I was torn to pieces.

I could not explain why. Everyone was twirling their fingers near their temples. Then he moved to Chernihiv. It was a strange choice in the eyes of others, because the standard of living in Donetsk and Chernihiv was radically different. Six months later, the war came to Donetsk.

Similarly, when I was in Mariupol on February 18, I felt a certain discomfort that I could not explain. Then it raised the issue of my mother’s retirement. She is 67 years old and has spent enough time working. My brother and I said we would help, and she agreed – she retired just before the war. On the day of the invasion, it should be changed quickly…

 – In your opinion, does Mariupol have a future?

– Even if the city remains in ruins, the rashists will not take away from Mariupol the main thing – the sea. They will not destroy the place of power of all citizens. When I come to Mariupol, I go to the sea. I grew up around him, it calms me down, fills me up.

And yet they do not break the spirit of Mariupol. Those who escaped, and with whom I spoke, are not afraid to return, they are not afraid to stay in Ukraine. Some have just recovered and immediately started volunteering, while others want to take up arms and defend their homeland.

The city is determined by its people. So, no matter how the rashists try to make ruins out of Mariupol, the city remains in the hearts.

There is and will be someone to rebuild it. And believe me, he will be even better!