LVIV, Ukraine
Turkish nationals who were recently evacuated from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol departed from the town of Lviv on Friday with their sights westward on the Polish border.
From Poland, the convoy of three vehicles will proceed to Germany, where the 17 evacuees they are carrying will board a plane to Turkiye.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ismail Hacioglu, the imam of a Turkish mosque in Mariupol, said they had endured in the besieged city with no electricity, water, or heating for three and half weeks.
"No (humanitarian) corridor was opened for us by Russia. The Russians were saying: 'The Ukrainian side didn't open a corridor for you'," Hacioglu said, adding that they had "received no assistance" while stranded in the southeastern city.
"They began shooting some people on the road. You had no chance getting out of there with your own means before a corridor was opened," he said.
The group was stopped frequently on the road by Russian forces, Hacioglu recounted. "We'd found a place to spend the night. Only five kilometers were left but they (Russians) stopped us at around 6.00 p.m. (1600GMT).
"Had they given us five minutes, we could have got there. Since we couldn't, we had to spend the night in the cars with the children at minus 15 degrees (Celsius) (5F) until morning," he added.
On that occasion, they were not allowed out of their vehicles the entire night and were only able to continue on their way in the morning.
Another Turkish evacuee, Mehmet Gunes, said that while they were in Mariupol, they baked and distributed bread to the local residents despite the risk of shelling.
Gunes said he used to set off early in the morning for the bakery, adding: "We began to experience the action scenes just like those we saw in American movies: Human corpses on the side of the road, crumbling buildings, frightened neighbors."
"I still have fear inside me now. I want to say, frankly, that I'm afraid to go out after dark."
Gunes also said they had a hard time at the checkpoints set up by the Russians.
"They forced us remove our clothes at passport and vehicle control. They were checking if we had gunpowder stains on our hands," he said.
He said they had no opportunity to contact their loved ones in Turkiye while they were in Mariupol.
Russia began its war Feb. 24. It has been met with international outrage, with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.
At least 1,081 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 1,707 injured, according to UN estimates, while cautioning that the true figure is likely far higher.
More than 3.7 million Ukrainians have also fled to neighboring countries, with over 6.5 million more displaced inside the country, according to the UN refugee agency.
