Mariupol

BBC journalist Olga Ivshina, who was on the ground in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region reporting about the earlier stages of the war, says there were reports of Ukraine retaking villages in 2016-19, a successful Ukrainian offensive outside Mariupol, and Ukrainian tanks were spotted too close to the frontline, where they should not have been under the ceasefire deals.

The atmosphere of fear and suspicion is such that when I was trying to contact residents of occupied Mariupol, I was accused of being a Russian journalist.

Ukraine said 300 people were killed when Russian planes bombed Mariupol theatre in March 2022.

I moved to Mariupol, on the Black Sea coast of Ukraine, well before that city made headline news all over the world.

Mariupol is close to the Russian border.