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The heartbreaking diary of a teenage girl trapped in horrifying conditions in Ukraine has been shared on social media, detailing the harrowing reality of Vladimir Putin's brutal war.
Just like Anne Frank, who scribbled down her thoughts and feelings during World War Two, Katya's devastating story has come to light after she survived the death of several family members, including her mother.
Ukrainian gymnast Lilia Podkopayeva helped broadcast the teen's story by posting about the diary entries on her Instagram page.
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“During WWII some children were making diaries from concentration camps and occupied cities by Nazis,” Kaleniuk said, according to local news reports.
“History is repeating. This is a diary of Katya, a 16-year-old girl from Mariupol, whose mother died in the basement.”
The gymnast then posted translated extracts of the diary, which revealed the true horror that Ukrainians are suffering from at the hands of Russian invaders.
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“You know that feeling when it hurts? I once fell in love with a boy, but he didn’t fall in love with me, and I thought it hurt," Katya wrote.
"But it turned out that it hurts to see your mother die in front of you.
“My brother keeps coming up to mum, saying, 'Mummy, don’t sleep, you will freeze'.
“We will never visit her grave. She has remained in the damp and dark basement. We went to the toilet, slept, ate leftovers in the same basement."
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The 16-year-old, who was trapped in a basement in Mariupol with her family, explained how she tried to shield her little brother from the death of their mother.
“Mum held on to the last, three days before our evacuation, she died. I told my brother that she was asleep and should not be awakened. But he seems to have understood it all," Katya said.
“I no longer believe in your God. Had he existed, we wouldn’t have suffered so much.
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“My mum never, you hear, never did anything wrong. She went to church. Uncle Kolya quit smoking so that mum wouldn't be nervous that it's a sin. And your God took her away.
"The priest said my mum now serving God, but it'd be better if she were to serve him here, raising us."
The teen then detailed a call she made to family in Russia and how they have abandoned her following the death of her mother.
“I hate Russia. My own uncle is there. Do you know what he told me on phone today? ‘Katya? What Katya? Girl, I don’t know you. What war, what Katya?’ And then he wrote from a burner phone: ‘Katya, do not write to me. It is dangerous for me and my family. Your mum is gone'," she wrote.
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"I hate them! She was his sister!? How is that possible? … You know, I think that I will return to Mariupol. And I will live in the same place. And every time, on the same day, I will go down to the basement of a new house to lay flowers."
One of the saddest entires details what she will do if she manages to flee the war and grow up to have a family of her own.
“I want to die, but I can’t. … hug your kids," the diary reads.
"Otherwise, you may be gone, and they will not remember your smell. If I endure and later have children, I will be hugging them all the time.”
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information.
Rachel Lang