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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Luke Harding in Lviv

Escape from Mariupol: the man who swam to safety from Russian terror

Dmitry Yurin escaped from Mariupol by swimming in the Sea of Azov,
Dmitry Yurin escaped from Mariupol by swimming in the Sea of Azov. Photograph: Luke Harding/The Guardian

Dmitry Yurin was at home on 16 March when a Russian bomb struck Mariupol’s drama theatre. His flat in Prospect Mira was a couple of hundred metres away, across a square with a fountain. The theatre had become a capacious air raid shelter. Hundreds of women and children were inside.

“It was terrible, a massive blast, an enormous explosion. I heard cries and screams,” Yurin said. “I saw bodies and bits of bodies. I pulled one woman out, then a girl, and then a boy. All were hurt. The boy’s legs didn’t move. He was screaming. My hands were shaking. I was covered in blood.”

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