KRAKOW, Poland, April 1 – When a rocket hit one of the apartment buildings in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine, in early March, 14-year-old Karina Ivashchenko pulled out a pen and notebook and began to draw.
Ivashchenko, who lived under bombing raids after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, said that drawing and writing not only helped her take her mind off the war outside, but soon became her coping mechanism.
“I drew my fears. I was afraid of the war. I was scared when there was shooting in the streets. We sat in the basement, all the walls shook,” Ivashchenko told Reuters in an interview.
Together with her neighbors, Ivashchenko and her family took shelter in the basement of their apartment for almost two weeks. They have since fled to Poland.
Amidst the noise of air raid sirens, approaching planes and shelling, Ivashchenko found refuge in her art.
In her drawings, Ivashchenko portrayed herself as a cartoon character, expressing her feelings, thoughts and experiences. Some of her illustrations tell of the noises she heard, others show scenes from everyday Ukrainian life.
An undated handout picture shows cartoon illustrations drawn by Karina Ivashchenko, 14, to channel her fear and overcome war trauma amid the country’s Russian invasion, in Mariupol, Ukraine, obtained by Reuters March 31 2022. The story goes, “Seems I’ve calmed down. I like to draw. We don’t live, but we survive. There is no water, no gas, no heat, no electricity. I want to lead a normal life.” Oleg Ivashchenko/Handout via REUTERS
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During the period when the Ivashchenko family took refuge in the basement, they had no electricity, heating, or water.
“When I came out of the basement onto the street, all the houses were on fire. Black smoke everywhere. All the houses, all the glass – it was just gone. It was very scary. I’ve never seen anything like this. It was hell.” Ivashchenko said.
Nearly 5,000 people, including around 210 children, have been killed in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol since the siege by Russian troops, a mayor’s spokesman said on Monday. Reuters could not verify these numbers.
Russia denies attacking civilians and accuses Ukraine of repeatedly failing to agree on safe corridors for trapped residents.
Ivashchenko, her mother, grandmother and grandfather were among those who managed to escape from Mariupol and found safety in the Polish city of Kraków. However, Ivashchenko’s father had to stay behind.
For the first time in a long time, the feeling of security has returned and “you don’t have to pull anymore,” said Ivashchenko.
Reporting by Anna Lubowicka; additional reporting by Margaryta Chornokondratenko, Maria Starkova and Stephen Farrell in Lviv; Editing by Diane Craft