Ukrainians wounded in Russian attacks struggle with injuries and memories of lost loved ones
CBC
When the Russian missile hit near Olga Sairova's home in Mariupol on March 11, she barely escaped being crushed, sheltering from the pounding in her basement.
But her husband couldn't get there in time.
"[He] was coming, but did not make it. He needed five more seconds," Sairova told CBC News, from a hospital room in the northwestern Ukrainian city of Lviv.
She spoke slowly, the pain of that moment still fresh.
Half-buried under the rubble, Sairova called out for help, "but it took two hours for somebody to hear me. It took people from neighbouring homes six hours to dig me out."
That's because her leg was trapped under a concrete slab. Neighbours ended up tying a rope around it and using a car to pull the concrete off her.
Sairova's leg is now in a splint, broken in three places, and she is awaiting surgery. Her doctor says she will walk again, but her heart is shattered.
"In one second, I lost everything: my parents, husband. And after two days, I found out that my sister and her husband also died in their yard," she said, tearing up.
WATCH | Olga Sairova and Lesia Bondarenko share their stories of heartache and survival:
Sairova had to leave her loved ones under the rubble, she said, because there was no way to remove their bodies.
She stayed in Mariupol for five more days, but then the bombing intensified again and neighbourhood homes were burning.
"One of the neighbours' cars was still intact, [so] we got in and left."
It's been more than a month since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, and while Russia has met unexpectedly stiff resistance, its military campaign continues.
After Russia announced a drawdown of troops on Tuesday from areas around the capital, Kyiv, and Chernihiv, Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces had redoubled the shelling there on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
