Greek diplomat Manolis Androulakis, who was the last remaining Western diplomat left in the city of Mariupol, Ukraine, arrived in Greece from Bucharest on Sunday evening.
When Androulakis arrived at the Athens International Airport on Sunday, his family, including his wife, son, and father, were waiting for him.
The Greek diplomat lived through a series of Russian attacks on the city, where residents have been left without necessities like food, water, and heat for weeks.
“Mariupol will be added to the lists of international cities that have been destroyed, such as Guernica, Stalingrad, and Grozny,” Androulakis stated just after arriving in Athens.
Mariupol, Ukraine target of Russian attacks
Mariupol, a vibrant port city in southern Ukraine, has been heavily targeted by Russian shelling in the past two weeks and more than 30,000 people are estimated to have fled already. At least 2,500 civilians have been killed so far in the city, Ukraine officials say.
The attack on the city was swift and destructive, the Greek diplomat stated. “Within 24 hours all of the infrastructure in Mariupol was lost,” he said.
He also spoke of his brush with death: “The spot where I was hit twice, but I knew that my time had not yet come.”
“All of those who have remained in Mariupol are heroes,” he stressed.
The Greek diplomat is expected to meet with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the coming days.
Androulakis was first evacuated from the city on Thursday. Upon arriving to a safe area in central Ukraine after fleeing the city, the Greek diplomat recounted the horrors he witnessed in Mariupol to journalist Kostas Onisenko.
Greek diplomat in Ukraine describes horrors of war
“Every day the situation was becoming worse. The city was encircled and the battles were closing in. Civilians were hit. The civilian infrastructure was hit. A hospital was hit, a library, a university. When I say they were hit, I mean nothing was left standing,” Androulakis said.
He describes the chaos following the Russian strikes. “We were left without water, electricity, or telecommunications. Mariupol ran out of supplies such as food and gas. I witnessed a huge humanitarian crisis.”
The Greek diplomat’s eyewitness account points to war crimes committed by the Russian armed forces.
“Civilians were victims of indiscriminate bombing,” he says. “What was the strategic thinking behind shelling a city to ruins?” he asked.
“The Ukrainians opened a humanitarian corridor for people to flee the city but it was hit by the Russians,” the Greek diplomat said.
“I cannot see how anyone can return to this city. It would take at least a generation to rebuild it,” he lamented.
Mariupol after many days of Russian shelling. #RussianWarCrimes
Video: The Guardian pic.twitter.com/k430nDGUAk— Oleksandra Matviichuk (@avalaina) March 19, 2022
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