BEZIMENNE (Ukraine) – Natalia Usmanova was frightened by the Russian bombs that fell on Mariupol and sprinkled her with concrete dust.

After being evacuated from the sprawling plant built under Josef Stalin, Usmanova (37) spoke with Reuters Sunday. The underground network of tunnels and bunkers was designed to withstand an attack.

Usmanova described the experience of underground sheltering as “I was afraid that the bunker wouldn’t withstand it”

“When I felt the bunker shake, it was panic, as my husband can attest: I was worried that the bunker would collapse.”

She said that “we didn’t see sunlight for so long” in Bezimenne, an area in Donetsk controlled by Russia-backed separatists and located around 30km (20 miles) east Mariupol.

She remembered the scarcity of oxygen and fear felt by those who remained there.

Usmanova was just one of many people evacuated from Mariupol plant, where Russian forces had been occupying the southern port city for weeks. It was left as a desolate wasteland.

Usmanova stated that she laughed with her husband as they rode out on the bus in a convoy agreed upon by the United Nations (ICRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross. They were able to take a torch to the toilet, which was no longer necessary.

Usmanova stated, “It’s hard to imagine the horror we went through.” It was a place I knew all my life. However, what I saw was absolutely terrible.