An Indian doctor has been holed up for more than a week in his basement in war-torn Ukraine, alongside his two big cats – a rare leopard jaguar crossbreed and a black panther – which he refuses to leave behind to flee the country. Dr. Girikumar Patil has lived for the past six years in Severodonetsk in the Donbas region of Ukraine. Since the war began, he had only left home to buy food for his cats. He told the BBC that he has so far had to buy 23 kgs of sheep, turkey and chicken at much higher prices than normal. He has tried to find a way out but has so far been unsuccessful. “I called the E…