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Life Tragedy

The document is an introduction by an editor at the New York Times Opinion section about collecting first-hand accounts of residents in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol. It summarizes the challenges of contacting people in Mariupol due to lack of communication lines. Through Ukrainian journalists, the NYT obtained and published edited statements from three residents who fled Mariupol describing walking among dead bodies to get water and trying to comfort terrified children about the threat of death. The editor confirmed with each person that their harrowing stories could be published to share the reality of the situation in Mariupol with readers.

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Dydy Fred
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83 views2 pages

Life Tragedy

The document is an introduction by an editor at the New York Times Opinion section about collecting first-hand accounts of residents in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol. It summarizes the challenges of contacting people in Mariupol due to lack of communication lines. Through Ukrainian journalists, the NYT obtained and published edited statements from three residents who fled Mariupol describing walking among dead bodies to get water and trying to comfort terrified children about the threat of death. The editor confirmed with each person that their harrowing stories could be published to share the reality of the situation in Mariupol with readers.

Uploaded by

Dydy Fred
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

View in browser|nytimes.

com
Continue reading the main story

April 6, 2022

By Louise Loftus
Staff Editor, Opinion

I’ve been thinking about why we read about other people’s lives.

Curiosity maybe or a bit of envy. But sometimes I think — I hope — the


impulse is more altruistic: People everywhere endure awful things, and there’s
very little I can do about that. But I can acquaint myself with the facts and
somebody’s experience. I can be a witness.

In the international section of Opinion, where I’m an editor, we think a lot


about how to make the lives of others vivid for readers. Recently we’ve been
talking about the people in Mariupol, Ukraine.

In early March the Russian military encircled and began bombarding the city,
a southern port on the Black Sea. Residents have been without gas and
electricity for about a month, and food and water are scarce. What is it like to
go from the life you recognize to scraping out an existence and trying to keep
your family alive? We had to hear from people who were there.

Internet and cellphone service in Mariupol have been almost nonexistent since
the attack began, so contacting people there was difficult. Many of our earlier
attempts to tell this story failed. Eventually we got in touch with three
Ukrainian journalists who were able to reach people who had fled.

The statements the journalists collected and translated, which we edited for length
and clarity, make for harrowing reading: “We went for water every day, and
every day we looked at new bodies lying on the road,” Hanna Drobot said.

“I am on my knees in front of my terrified kids, who are crying and saying that
they are afraid to die,” said Kristina Khodunova, who also escaped. “I am
trying to explain to them that death is not scary, the most important thing is
that we are together.”

I contacted each person to make sure they understood that we’d publish their
words. “It’s important for me to tell my story of survival,” Karina, one of the
displaced people quoted, told me in a WhatsApp message. “I want people to
know the stories are not invented, the photos posted on social networks are not
staged shots. This is the reality of what is happening to people right now.”

As I said, these accounts are not easy to read. I hope you will persevere.

Read the full accounts here.

Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
‘At Night I Dream of
Mariupol’
Mariupol, Ukraine, has been encircled by
Russian forces for about a month. We
have collected the statements of people
who recently escaped.

Continue reading the main story


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