「太陽を再び見られるとは」　死を覚悟の製鉄所脱出　ウクライナ

【ザポリージャＡＦＰ＝時事】「太陽を再び見られるとは思っていなかった」。ウクライナ南東部の港湾都市マリウポリのアゾフスターリ製鉄所に避難していたマルガリータさん（２３）は、民間人の退避用のバスに乗ろうとした際、最後の瞬間まで死を覚悟していた。（写真はアゾフスターリ製鉄所から避難したアンナ・ザイツェワさんと息子）
　氏名を公表しないことを条件にＡＦＰの取材に応じたマルガリータさんは「爆弾が当たるなら即死させて、と願っていた。体が損なわれるのはいやだ。血を流し、死に至るのではないかとも恐れていた」と語った。
　脱出するためにはしかし、ロシア側が身元や所属などを調べる施設を通過しなければならなかった。救出された複数の民間人はＡＦＰに、衣類を脱いでの検査や指紋の採取、携帯電話や身分証明書などのチェックを何度も受けたと証言した。
　マルガリータさんにとっては、特に危険を伴うものだった。父親と夫は共に、ロシア側に敵視されている、ウクライナ軍の精鋭部隊「アゾフ連隊」のメンバーだからだ。
　正直に話す姿勢を見せることが脱出の可能性を高めるだろう。夫の情報もすでに把握されているはずだ。マルガリータさんは検査担当者に質問された際、夫の所属についてあえて反論しなかった。
■犯罪者扱い
　マルガリータさんはウクライナ支配下のザポリージャに向かうための最後の関門を通過する際、パスポートの返却を求めた。そこで、ロシア側のアゾフ連隊に対する敵意がむき出しになった。
　「なぜパスポートが必要なんだ。お前の夫の遺体が入った袋にパスポートを入れて送り返してやる」
　内臓が飛び出して死んだ夫の写真も送ってやると、ののしられた。
　製鉄所から救出された複数の女性は、ロシア側の女性担当者に脱衣を求められ、入れ墨や傷跡の有無を確認された。さらに顔写真を撮影され、政治思想から母親の旧姓まで幅広く質問されたと訴えた。
　やはり匿名を条件に語ってくれたナタリアさんは、ロシアに行きたいのか、東部の親ロシアの「ドネツク人民共和国」にとどまりたいのか、それともマリウポリで街の再建に取り組みたいのかを問いただされた。
　「マリウポリはもはや存在していない。どのようにして再建したり、戻ったりできるというのか」と嘆いた。
　元製鉄所労働者エリナ・ツィブルチェンコ?さん（５４）は「指紋を採取され、『左を向け』『右を向け』『ここを見ろ』と、まるで犯罪者のような扱いだった」と憤った。
　ナタリアさんは「彼ら（ロシア側）は機関銃が搭載された装甲車のそばで私たちに対する質問を続けた。なんて答えればいいのか。ウクライナに行きたい、それは自分の祖国だからと言うしかなかった」と振り返った。
■数時間の留め置き
　マルガリータさんによれば、ロシア側は取り調べの際、「人々を脱出させたい」として、製鉄所の地下壕（ごう）がどこに位置しているのか詳しく説明するよう求めた。女性の中にアゾフ連隊や軍に所属する男性の妻がいるのに気づき、情報を引き出そうとしたようだ。
　マルガリータさんは担当者に対し、夫とは離れ離れになっていたと言うのが得策だと判断し、そう説明した。携帯電話の中身を調べられた際にはただ、マルガリータさんが夫に愛していると伝えたメッセージを見つけられた。結局、４時間にわたって尋問されたという。
　アゾフスターリ製鉄所から逃れた人を乗せた白いバスが複数台、ザポリージャに到着すると、大勢のジャーナリストや人道支援関係者、知人らが詰め掛けた。
　アンナ・ザイツェワさんは、生後６か月の赤ちゃんを抱いてバスから降りた。ハグやキスで迎えられ、涙ぐんだ。
　「私たちを助けてくれたすべての人に感謝している。希望を失った時もあった。忘れられてしまったと思っていた」【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/05/10-10:15）

Margarita was sure, up to the last moment, that she would be killed running for the buses waiting to save civilians like her from months of terror under Russian bombardment in the holdout Azovstal steel works.
I never thought I would see sunlight again, the 23-year-old Ukrainian told AFP on condition her full name not be published.
I was thinking if a bomb hits, please let it kill me instantly. I don't want to be handicapped. I was afraid I could end up bleeding to death, she added.
A dramatic humanitarian effort is carrying to safety the last of the hundreds of civilians who were stranded in bunkers under the site, where Ukrainian fighters are making a last stand against Russians seeking full control of the key port city Mariupol.
But to escape they have had to pass through Russian filtration sites where several evacuees told AFP they were questioned, strip-searched, fingerprinted, had their phones scrutinised and documents checked -- and checked again.
It was particularly risky for Margarita who said her father and husband are both members of the far-right Azov regiment that is central to the Azovstal battle against Russian troops, who consider the fighters their arch-enemies.
Figuring a degree of honesty would boost her chances of getting to safety and that the Russians would have a reasonable idea of who her husband was already, she did not dispute his affiliation when interrogators asked.
- 'Treated like criminals' -
Margarita said the Russian troops' animosity toward Azov fighters surfaced quickly when she asked they return her passport in the final steps of the humanitarian convoy that would finally reach the safety of the government-held city of Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday.
They told me 'Why? You need it? We will send you the passport in a body bag with the corpse of your husband', she added. They told me that they will send us photos of my husband killed and eviscerated.
Several women evacuated from Azovstal said they were strip-searched in tents by female Russians and checked for tattoos or scars, had their mugshots taken and were subjected to questioning that ranged from their mothers' maiden names to political leanings.
They asked us if we wanted to go to Russia or to stay in (eastern Ukraine's self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic) or stay and rebuild the city of Mariupol, said Azovstal evacuee Natalia, who spoke on condition that her full name not be published.
But how can I rebuild it, how can I return there if the city of Mariupol doesn't exist anymore? she said of the settlement now devastated by heavy bombardment.
Another Azovstal evacuee, Elyna Tsybulchenko, said the convoy was brought to a village east of Mariupol, Bezimenne, for filtration.
They took us one by one. They took our fingerprints, took our photos 'Turn left', 'Turn right', 'Look here' -- like we were some kind of criminals, the 54-year-old former Azovstal worker added.
At the same time, worried family and friends of the evacuees waited for news at a shopping centre car park in Zaporizhzhia that was the convoy's final stop, but the wait would stretch for days as the process unfolded.
The Russians kept asking us questions, but there were armoured vehicles standing there with machine guns... What could we say? We only said that we wanted to go to Ukraine, that it is our country, said Natalia, 63.
They had my old mobile phone and did something to it, I assume it may be tapped now, she added.
- Held for hours -
During her interrogation at the filtration site, Margarita said the Russians asked her for details about where the Azovstal bunkers were located, saying they wanted to let the people out.
They figured out very soon that among the women we had a lot of wives of men fighting in the Azov or military, so they started to interrogate us for information, Margarita said.
She ended up telling the interrogators that she had separated from her husband, thinking that putting some distance between them would help keep her safe.
While checking her phone though, interrogators uncovered messages between the two of them from March 1, including one in which Margarita told her husband she loved him.
They held me for four hours, she told AFP at the emergency housing she was staying at days after the evacuation to Zaporizhzhia.
Then after a seemingly interminable wait, the convoy of white city buses came into view of the reception centre, where it was greeted by a crush of dozens of journalists, scores of humanitarian workers and the loved ones who had waited so long for news.
Evacuee Anna Zaitseva was among the people stepping off the buses into the crowd and she cried as she was met with hugs and kisses.
We are so thankful for everyone who helped us. There was a moment we lost hope, said Zaitseva, holding her six-month-old baby in her arms. We thought everyone forgot about us.