Tom Balmforth & Parniyan Zimaryalai

KYIV (Reuters – Russian forces tightened their hold on Mariupol, and missiles rained down. Mykhailo puryshev drove six times into the city last month to evacuate its residents. He somehow survived despite his red van almost being destroyed.

According to the 36-year old Ukrainian who used to own a nightclub, he had evacuated over 200 people during six dangerous trips. Others joined him on a convoy that led into his home.

Russia took control last week of the city’s ruins, which were subject to intense fighting. Despite hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers still living in shelters at a large steel plant, the Russians have taken over. Ukraine estimates that approximately 100,000 civilians remain trapped in the area.

Because repeated humanitarian efforts failed, privately organized trips like Puryshev have provided a way for hungry civilians to get help.

The city looked like a big bonfire when I arrived on March 8. It was just black coal from buildings …” Puryshev when I last visited it.

Russia says it didn’t target civilians as part of a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine, and then protect the country from fascists. The West and Ukraine both claim that the claims of fascists are unfounded and that this war was an unprovoked aggression.

Puryshev uploaded online videos of his trip that provided a rare view into the city. Information is scarce and mobiles are not allowed to work in the area.

The windshield of his bus, which he and friends had contributed money to purchase, was damaged in an accident. Thank God that no one was in the bus.

Between trips, he repaired the van.

“The bus was hit with mortar and rifle fire as well as shelling.

According to him, it took them eight hours to drive through Russian-occupied territory. They had to go through checkpoints and navigate around occasional morassss of mud or corpses. But they were always afraid of falling into land mines.

In the city, he tried to avoid looking at corpses on the ground and inside the charred vehicles. He was afraid he might look for a deceased child or have an emotional breakdown.

He said that people were buried on the streets near nightclubs, shopping centers, and in front of kindergartens. Some corpses were wrapped in blankets and placed on benches.

The staff from his former nightclub set up a basement bomb shelter. This shelter could hold 200 people, which included pregnant women and elderly. After initially rescuing the employees of nightclubs, he discovered a way to also save those in hiding.

It would suddenly stop. That was the scariest thing. Eight hours passed before it went quiet. Then we realized that it was done. It was terrible when it started again. The children had to wet their pants.

The children had “stalkers,” or scavengers who would go out in search of food, clean clothes, or tights. He called him uncle Misha, and would give out sweets to the children who were sheltering from his presence.

He was reminded of a widow who asked him to remove the marriage ring from her husband, after he had been killed in an airstrike. He stated that he was unable to do this.

According to him, he had to cancel his March 28 trips after a soldier from the separatist movement told him to not return to that area or he’d be imprisoned.

Puryshev stated that God looked after him.

My only accident was getting a broken glass in my side. My coat protected me, and it left only a small scratch. God provided protection for me. My bus looked after me.”

After the war, he has his plans to keep the car.

We’ll make it a landmark when we go back to Mariupol.”