Nina Topalova, who is also the former president of the region's Greek nelaia, recounts how she, her children and her mother managed to flee as if they were being chased from a city that was in a stranglehold.
"We just woke up and took some things that were necessary."
"We just woke up and took some things that were necessary. I with water and left in pajamas," she said.
The decision to leave her family in Mariupol, she said, was far from easy: "We didn't want to leave. But we decided to leave. We didn't have time to think about what to take with us."
In fact, she revealed her house was flattened as it was hit by a rocket.
Yet despite the widespread destruction that Mariupol has suffered, Nina Topalova said that people will return to the city where "the heart of Ukrainian Hellenism beats."
The interview
[/P]Nina: what a beautiful city we had, what beautiful houses, with Greek buildings. We also have a federation of Greek clubs, what a nice building. I don't know if this building exists. And we didn't want to leave. Nobody wanted to. But we decided to leave. We didn't have time to think about what to take with us. Should we go or shouldn't we go
We just woke up we took some things that were necessary. I with water and left with pajamas. My own house no longer exists. A rocket hit my apartment building and in the pictures you can see my apartment building.
My daughter took her violin, my son took his bouzouki, but he also plays the guitar and now he has a big psychological problem, to tell you the truth, he didn't take the guitar with him.
Reporter: You were with two small children. You could eat and drink water, there was a toilet.
Nina: We went in the house and then we went out. For a few minutes at first and then the hours increased. When the sirens sounded we would go from the house to the lobby. From ten minutes at the beginning, then we sat for 3-4 hours.
Reporter: Leaving an image that hurt you a lot, what was it?
Nina: When they started bombing the peaceful population, the apartment buildings and I know a lot of people built. They renovated, as I did. I feel so much pain for Mariupol and so much sadness that it's hard to describe. For people to sit in shelters in the 21st century, this hurts me very much.
Reporter: Will Ukrainian Hellenism be lost in this war?
Nina: Not ever. The Hellenism of Ukraine will never be lost. The city that beats the heart of Ukrainian Hellenism, Mariupol, I believe it will be rebuilt, people will come back. I feel the pain of all these people and I cannot understand why it is the people's fault, why it is the fault of the peaceful population.
Source: skai.gr
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