He arrived in Athens shortly after 18:00 on Sunday, the Greek consul of Mariupol, Manolis Androulakis, who had been stranded for days in the besieged Ukrainian city. Androulakis arrived amid deep emotion as his family members were anxious for his health.
Manolis Androulakis spoke of a tragedy and called for everyone to join forces to bring about a ceasefire, as he said civilians were being killed. Manolis Androulakis referred to the hardships he and thousands of citizens experienced in a city that resembles nothing of what Mariupol was.
"If I may say a few words... I did not understand what dimension the whole issue had taken. The heroes are the people who are still left over and will try to rebuild their lives from scratch."
"I have been dealing with Russia for 20 years. Many people have asked me how I felt on nights when I couldn't sleep. I was thinking about my reading and listening. What is happening is a tragedy. It's a wound that will be hard to heal. I won't go on. Let us join our voices in a cease-fire. We tried to save as many expatriates as we could."
Tragedy
Emotionally charged, Manolis Androulakis stressed that in Mariupol there are thousands of civilians dead and that in the city, in just 24 hours, all infrastructure was destroyed. "Mariupol will go on the list of countries destroyed by wars, like Guernica, Aleppo, Leningrad."
He also stated that he witnessed the collection of human remains. He called for a ceasefire, protection of human life and removal of civilians.
For expatriates, Manolis Androulakis said that "we tried to get out as many as we could." He stressed that "right now they are going through a difficult time." He also mentioned that the only Department of Literature and Language no longer exists in Mariupol.
He thanked the President, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Ministry, President Zelenski for helping as much as he could in his escape, but also for the two unknown families who hosted him.
Mr Androullacki was the last European diplomat to leave the war zone in Ukraine. Initially he managed to leave Mariupol together with the 10 people trapped in the OSCE building. Initially the Greek delegation was transferred near Zaporizia and from there to Bucharest.
Source: in.gr
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