Farewell, Mariupol: A Bitter One for the Road

A retired military officer’s harrowing, deeply human first-hand account of surviving the 2022 siege of Mariupol. Left alone and penniless, Sergey Tupchiy documents the city’s collapse, locals’ struggle for food and water, lives and deaths under fire, encounters with Ukrainian defenders and Russian occupiers, and his perilous escape to Europe. Written with the keen eye of an officer and the heart of a local, Farewell, Mariupol: A Bitter One for the Road is a raw, unforgettable narrative of modern siege warfare.

What makes the encirclement of Mariupol unprecedented in modern history is the sheer scale of human entrapment. A thriving European metropolis of half a million citizens was abruptly sealed off from the world, transforming an urban landscape into a brutal fighting zone overnight. Trapped alongside a large military garrison, civilians found themselves unable to flee, enduring two months of relentless shelling while witnessing, day by day, the pulverisation of their city and the deaths of neighbours and loved ones.

The author captures the visceral reality of total isolation: a world without power, shops, or basic infrastructure, where searching for provisions becomes a life-or-death mission and the fallen cannot even be given a proper burial. Blending tactical clarity with intimate personal tragedy, this memoir offers an invaluable record of human resilience and the devastating mechanics of 21st-century warfare.