After fleeing Mariupol, sisters hope for reunion with mother they left behind

Nicole and Vira, sisters who fled Mariupol, attend a rally demanding international leaders to organise a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of Ukrainian military and civilians from their native city, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

KYIV (Reuters) - A month after fleeing the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol with her sister, 21-year-old Nicole breaks down in tears as she thinks of her mother, who they left behind and have since lost contact with.

She, sister Vira and Vira's four-year-old son made their escape on foot on April 1, the first part of a five-day odyssey that ended in the southern town of Zaporizhzia, having left a note for their mother on the table of apartment.