Bombs, half-empty cities, hunger torment Ukrainians as thousands flee war
India Today
As the war continues in Ukraine, thousands of refugees have fled the country amid Russian bombing, lack of food and uncertainty as Moscow shows no signs of stopping.
Yulia Bondarieva spent 10 days in a basement as Russian planes flew over and bombs were falling on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Having reached safety in Poland, Bondarieva’s only wish now is for her twin sister in the besieged city of Mariupol to get out, too.
“They have been in the basement since Feb. 24, they have not been out at all,” Bondarieva said. “They are running out of food and water.”
Bondarieva, 24, managed to speak to her sister on the phone recently. The fear of what will happen to her in the encircled and bombed-out city that is going through some of the worst fighting in the war has been overwhelming.
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“She does not know how to leave the city,” Bondarieva said after arriving in the Polish border town of Medyka.
Before the war, Mariupol had a population of about 430,000, and about a quarter got out shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Leaving the besieged city later became nearly impossible. Tens of thousands escaped over the past week by way of a humanitarian corridor, including 3,000 on Monday, but other attempts have been thwarted by the fighting. The Mariupol City Council has asserted that several thousand residents were taken into Russia against their will.
Bondarieva said her sister told her of “Russian soldiers walking around the city” in Mariupol, and people not being allowed out.
