supports HTML5 videoMarisya Dranomyrova, 21, is draped in her flag. She says: ‘I left on February 13 before the war started because we knew something was going on.‘I’m going home in two weeks, I’m so homesick.
There’s no bombing in Kyiv now but I know that in a couple of months there could be again.‘But I’m just too homesick. This a common thing among Ukrainians, many have returned home because of it.‘I will be one of them too soon and I’m excited about it.
I know I will be scared but being safe is nothing without home.’Some carried placards to raise awareness of the plight of the fighters captured while defending the Azovstal steel plant.Mariupol’s defenders held out until the bitter end while the rest of the ruined city fell under the control of Kremlin troops.
In just a few days, they face execution.Anna Ariabinska carries hers above her head for the TV cameras and journalists to see.She said: ‘Today is an opportunity to tell the world about them and raise awareness.‘The father of my children was living Mariupol when war broke out, he has been deported to the Russian Federation.’Despite the horror, she is hopeful.