Life and death in shattered Mariupol - a survivor's tale of war in Ukraine

FILE PHOTO: Local resident Tatiana Bushlanova sits on a bench near an apartment building heavily damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 2, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

MARIUPOL, Russian-controlled Ukraine (Reuters) - Shells were exploding nearby but Tatiana Bushlanova didn't flinch when she spoke to Reuters in front of the shattered remains of her home in Mariupol last May. Fighting in the port city has long since ended but the pensioner is still struggling to take in the enormity of what has happened.

Mariupol's strategic location on the Sea of Azov made it a prime target in what Moscow calls the "special military operation" that it launched in Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year.