Escape from Mariupol: 'I didn't want to die on the road'

FILE PHOTO: Service members of pro-Russian troops check cars during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 20, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

(Reuters) - It took two days of searching under heavy shelling before twin sisters Hanna and Anastasiya Hrechkina from Mariupol managed to find a ride out of the city.

"I lost any hope because people were not stopping," said Anastasiya, a 22-year-old psychology student.