Mariupol was doomed. Relentless Russian bombing had turned streets into ruins and courtyards into graveyards.<\/strong><\/p>\n But several metres underground in the south-eastern Ukrainian city, a romance was blooming.<\/p>\n Valeria Subotina, 33, had been sheltering in the enormous Azovstal steelworks, the final stronghold in the city, as it was surrounded by Russian forces in spring 2022.<\/p>\n She had taken cover in one of dozens of Soviet-era bomb shelters built to withstand nuclear war, deep beneath the industrial plant.<\/p>\n \u201cYou go down a semi-collapsed staircase, move through passages and tunnels, and go further and further down. Finally, you reach this concrete cube, a room,\u201d Valeria says.<\/p>\n In the bunker – alongside soldiers and civilians – Valeria was working with the army’s Azov brigade as a press officer, communicating the horrors of Russia’s months-long siege to global media.<\/p>\n There, too, was her fianc\u00e9 Andriy Subotin, a 34-year-old Ukrainian army officer, defending the plant.<\/p>\n