Ukrainian officials say tens of thousands of people were killed, but Mariupol's actual death toll remains unknown.
Their goal was to break our will — to break our resilience," said Tetiana, the Ukrainian mother whose surname has been intentionally withheld.
"We didn't really feel the beginning of the war," Oleksandr said, but that quickly changed.
Many soldiers were killed at Azovstal, and those who survived also ended up in Russian captivity.
Hi, I'm in Ukraine, mom ❤️Ukrainian defender Oleksandr Didur calls his dearest person after being released from almost 14 months of #Russian captivity.
Persons:
—, Mariupol, Vladimir Putin, Evgeniy, Oleksandr Didur, Russia's, Oleksandr, Oleksandr didn't, Shrapnel, Ramzan Kadyrov, Stringer, Alexander Ermochenko, cale, ong, ade, evastating, ake, ince
Organizations:
Service, Business, Ukraine's 36th Marine Brigade, Associated Press, Anadolu Agency, Getty, United Nations, REUTERS, ust
Locations:
Russia, Mariupol, Ukrainian, Moscow, Ukraine, Azov, Crimean, Donbas, Russian, Kyiv, Azovstal, Ukraine's, Donetsk, Olenivka, oman, ife, rauma