“Mariupol joined the list of destroyed cities like Guernica, Grozny,” says Greece’s General Consul

“What I saw in Mariupol, I hope no one will ever see,” Greece’s General Consul in the besieged city Manolis Androulakis told reporters after arriving in Athens. He spokes of thousands of killed Ukrainian civilians.

“What is going on there is a tragedy,”  Mariupol has joined the ranks of places known for having been destroyed in wars such as “Guernica, Coventry, Aleppo, Grozny,” he added.

The Greek diplomat, the last Western diplomat to have remained in the city until March 15, arrived to Greek capital Athens on Sunday.

“We tried to evacuate as many as we could. We did what was possible given the circumstances,” he stressed adding that several thousands of ethnic Greeks were left behind.

A small convoy drove through the war zone and the adventure of Androulakis, 4 Greek nationals and 6 ethnic Greeks from Mariupol had a happy ending on Friday, when they crossed into Moldavia from Ukraine.

The Greek consul general went through difficult times, as he had found himself in a shelter with little food, water and medicine.

A well coordinated operation was needed to have the group evacuated.