��������

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 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.

“She does not know how to leave the city,” the 24-year-old said after arriving in the Polish border town of Medyka.

Mariupol authorities have said only about 10% of the city’s population of 430,000 has managed to flee over the past week. The Mariupol City Council has asserted that several thousand residents were taken into Russia against their will.