Thread by @gryn_a

At the request of people who didn’t know about Mantas Kvedaravičius and his last days, here’s a new thread.
It’s long. May this become witness to Mantas’ life and work, and to the incredible courage of his Ukrainian fiancee Hanna Bilobrova as well as people of Mariupol.🧵

Hanna and Mantas had met during his earlier film project, they were to get married in September 2022.
On March 3 they were working on a film in Uganda, Mantas decided to go to Mariupol. Hanna insisted
on going with him.🧵

About his first documentary on Mariupol (2016) Mantas said that he was interested in people who live in a place permeated by the feeling of war.
Let’s not forget: war in Ukraine didn’t begin in 2022, but in 2014. However, at the time it wasn’t acknowledged by most of the world.🧵

Now, Mantas felt he had to go and see the people of Mariupol again, to tell the world about them.
He knew the situation there was tragic, so before leaving he bought 10 boxes of food in Poland. He said his goal was not just to film, but also to provide urgent help.🧵

The following events were described later by Mantas' fiancee Hanna in various interviews.
Upon entering Ukraine, they are met by a sign: “Welcome to eternity”.
It feels eerie, but they just laugh it off and continue driving.🧵

After successfully getting through many check points (Hanna is a resident of Luhansk, that helps a lot) they reach Mariupol.
Long lines of leaving. People on foot. Very old grandmas being pushed in wheelbarrows. Cars with broken windows.🧵

They go up on a hill and see a wall of fire in the distance. Hanna asks: “What is that?” Mantas answers: “It’s Mariupol”.
Everything looks apocalyptic. Destroyed buildings. Unexploded shells. Dead bodies lying around. They must drive very fast.🧵

Their car is being shot at several times from a tank, but they escape unharmed. They arrive to a cinema turned into a shelter and begin unloading the food.
Both notice something chilling about the people they see - there is no life in their eyes. Everyone’s eyes look dead.🧵

At first Mantas wanted to go to the drama theatre where he filmed his first doc about Mariupol. But on the way he was shocked to learn that it’s been bombed.
They settle in a baptist church which welcomes everyone. Impossible to go outside, there are snipers everywhere.🧵

On the roof of the house opposite the church there's a dead body of a man. He'd been carried there by a blast of an explosion. It’s too dangerous to move him.
Or even to feed his dog who is tied in front of his house. There’s non-stop shooting every day, since early morning.🧵

A local man hiding in the church says he had a similar situation.
Half of his neighbour’s body got stuck on the roof of his house, he couldn’t do anything for 3 days.
Finally he got him into a wheelbarrow and pushed him further, but couldn’t bury him, so he just left him there.🧵

Hanna asks Mantas to film the body on the roof, but he refuses, saying that dead bodies don't interest him. He came here to film life. He’s happy that back at the cinema everyone looked dead, but here, in the church, people are still alive, still living. He wanted to film life.🧵

There’s a group of young guys they nickname ‘rangers’ because they can move around the besieged city without getting shot.
They manage to find diesel, move dead bodies, get water from a well. Mantas is amazed that people hiding in the church keep themselves busy, fix things.🧵

A 10 year-old girl with her father comes to the church. He’s recently had a stroke.
Her mother was in the kitchen making food when a missile hit and killed her in front of her daughter.
They take them in, hoping to take them both away as soon as it’s possible to leave Mariupol.🧵

A drunk russian soldier appears. He sees their car with 🇱🇹 number plate and starts asking questions.
But he’s so drunk, he forgets it, goes into the yard and starts shooting rounds at nothing in particular. He’s injured. Hanna bandages his leg and asks him to leave. He leaves.🧵

One morning russians set mines at the entrance to the church yard. But then, a local driver who brought them to Mariupol arrives.
He’s surprised to find them there.
A bomb hits the church, starting a big fire. The driver urges them to leave. They take the girl and her father.🧵

They settle in a calmer part of Mariupol where they spend the night.
Early the next morning, the driver and Mantas go to look for another car.
They don’t come back that day. The next day, the driver comes back alone and says that Mantas was taken by russian soldiers.🧵

Apparently, he wanted to photograph a damaged building, not knowing the russians had established a base there.
They looked for bruises on his shoulder to see if he’s a sniper and found some - made by his heavy backpack. They see his 🇱🇹 passport and conclude he’s a NATO soldier.🧵

For 5 days Hanna runs around Mariupol looking for Mantas.
Asks russian soldiers. They say they know nothing.
Finally, a commander tells her: “Your husband is dead”. But refuses to take her to the body so she could identify him.
The next day, soldiers come and take her in a car.🧵

Hanna sees Mantas lying by the side of the street, in his blue jacket.
She wants to run to him and hug him, but the soldiers stop her, saying the body could be booby trapped. Mantas, together with dead soldiers, is taken to Donetsk in a truck. Hanna is allowed to accompany him.🧵

Hanna notices that there is no blood around Mantas’ body, or on his clothes.
There are also no bullet wounds in his clothes.
She realises that he was dressed and thrown on the street after being killed.🧵

Before leaving she grabs Mantas’ backpack with hard drives, saving the footage from the the church.
They arrive to Donetsk at night. Hanna has nowhere to sleep, she spends the night on a couch at the morgue. Then, she begins the process of arranging Mantas’ transfer to 🇱🇹.🧵

Mantas had said: don’t be afraid, nobody will take me away from you.
Hanna says these words were important to her, that’s why she was so determined to find him.
She told herself she'd not leave without him.
It was only because of her that he finally returned home.🧵

According to Hanna, they went there to show how people live in Mariupol. That despite everything, there are still people there who are alive and they’re helping each other. They haven’t disappeared, life hasn’t disappeared.🧵

Mantas won the Silver Crane award for Lifetime Achievements in Lithuanian Film Awards 2022. President Zelenskyy thanked him via video message, saying Ukrainians will remember him as someone who cherished life, so we must fight against those who aim to destroy it.
Heroyam slava!