The trouble didn’t end there. Fire in the third stairwell. It’s -10C outside and windy. The fire quickly spread from floor to floor. There is nothing to stop it.

The entire first and second stairwells are already on fire. The basement is on fire from the fourth stairwell, where we spent the night yesterday.

Less than 20 minutes later, my husband shouted for us to take things out into the street. We decided to go somewhere. No time to find out where.

Someone is loading cars. Someone is dragging possessions. It’s bad for the old women. They barely walk and go nowhere. It’s scary to think what will happen to them. One family from the second floor left the city and left behind their grandmother. She can barely walk.

I have only seen such horror in the disaster movies. We were driving in a column, but then shelling. We got out and lay on the ground. We decided to move to my husband’s office, where we spent the night for the first time. It seems a little quieter.

Arina cries all the time. I calm her down as best I can, but I also cry.

March 13

Bombing non-stop. Apparently, the Azovstal [steel works] is being hammered. I walked out of the shelter and a nearby house was destroyed. There was a crater from a shell. On the horizon, the sky is black from a burning city.

I thought about my mother the whole day. It looks like it’s only an hour to get there on foot. But it’s very scary. Shelling all day.

The most important thing is that in Berdyansk there is a convoy with humanitarian aid and 50 buses for evacuation. We decided that we would try to break through with the convoy.

I am crying even more that I cannot give this news to my relatives.

March 14

Today is my mother-in-law’s birthday. Now I realise very clearly what are the most important things. It is a pity that we can not see her and congratulate her.