Bombing of Mariupol: Winnipeg woman feels ‘hopeless,’ fears for her family in Ukraine

It’s been extremely painful for Winnipegger Iryna Latysh to watch the city she grew up in being destroyed.

Once a thriving city in the southeastern part of Ukraine, Mariupol is now destroyed and surrounded by Russian forces. The city has become the most heavily bombed city in Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine.

“Of course it’s very painful and very stressful,” said Latysh, who grew up in Mariupol.

“It’s frustrating, it’s scary, it’s hopeless. Like all of those feelings, you know.”

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Ukrainian forces have fought off Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol, but innocent civilians continue to die as people try to escape the battered and besieged port city.

Latysh grew up in Mariupol before coming to Canada in 2015.

“It was a very beautiful city on the sea,” she said. “In the last 10 years, a lot of investment came into the city. It had beautiful parks, schools, people loved this city across Ukraine. Unfortunately, the city was beautiful, but now the government says 80 to 90 per cent of the city is destroyed. There are no buildings alive anymore.”

Latysh’s mother was able to flee Ukraine, but her dad, aunt, nephew, along with several of her former classmates are stuck in Mariupol. She says it’s been really hard trying to stay in contact with her father.

“From the beginning, I didn’t hear from him for about two weeks,” she said. “I know my schoolmates who live in Kyiv and their families live in Mariupol, they haven’t been able to speak with them for three weeks or more. They don’t know what is going on with them.”

Latysh says she feels helpless not being able to assist her family members stuck in Mariupol.

She was able to confirm that Russian forces have been taking Ukrainians from the city and putting them on buses. She says her former classmates that live in Kyiv say some of their relatives were transferred to different cities in Russia.

Latysh wants the war to end now so members of her family, along with millions of Ukrainians, can get back to the lives they once knew. She is sending a message to her family.

“I want to them to hear that we still love them, and we will do everything help them as much as we can. We worry and want them to stay alive. Everything else doesn’t matter at this point, we just want them to stay alive.”