The mayor of Mariupol, Vadim Boychenko, spoke about how his family was under occupation and how he accidentally met his mother in another city occupied by Russian troops.
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I led the first evacuation. I left Zaporozhye on March 10 for occupied Berdyansk. We were going to Mariupol, but the Russians stopped us. We passed 16 checkpoints. I didn’t drive like a mayor. I rode as one of the representatives of the Red Cross.
We stood there until March 16 on the Berdyansk ring and waited for us to be given the opportunity to go to Mariupol. So we never got to Mariupol. The Russians didn’t let us in there.
And in the occupied Berdyansk, I met my mother. In the third school by chance. Because people were leaving Mariupol, they had to be rallied somewhere,” Boychenko said in a conversation with Radio Liberty.
The residents of Mariupol elected Boychenko to the post of mayor twice in a row. In addition, Boychenko enjoyed the support of representatives of big business, including Rinat Akhmetov and Vadim Novinsky.
Both oligarchs, like Vladimir Zelensky, visited Mariupol on February 16, 2022. According to Boychenko, no one spoke about the war then.
On the fourth day after the Russian invasion, Boychenko left Mariupol and never returned. In a conversation with Radio Liberty, he said that he went out only for one night – without his family and without things. He received an order to leave from the head of the Donetsk region and the SBU. And when, the next day, he returned to Mariupol, the city was already surrounded.
Boychenko told how Mariupol was preparing for a full-scale war and what losses the city suffered as a result of the Russian invasion and occupation.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.