‘What liberation?’: Mariupol survivors rescued from last civilian bunker describe horrors of siege

The Chekhonatski family, Artem, Yegor and Olena, sit on the banks of the Dnipro river in Zaporizhzhia. They were among the last group of civilians officially evacuated from Azovstal. Photograph: Ed Ram/The Guardian

Spike, the quarrelsome dachshund, got something every meal, even as the humans trapped in the bunker under Azovstal steelworks were wasting away from hunger.

By the end there was so little food and water that adults were eating one tiny meal a day. Two cups of macaroni went into 10 litres of water, and that ‘soup’ had to feed 30 people. The children ate twice. Still, they all shared their food with their pet.