A Mariupol woman describes her harrowing experience of walking her dog 'between the bombings'

"A few people are here," the woman said about casualties outside her home in Mariupol. "I don't want to look at them. I'm afraid I'll see someone I know."

• A woman in Mariupol described her experience living in the Ukrainian town amid the assault by Russian forces.
• Russian bombing has laid waste to the city, targeting schools, maternity hospitals, and a movie theater.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said some 4,000 Mariupol residents have managed to escape for Zaporizhzhia.

A woman in the embattled Ukrainian city of Mariupol described in a firsthand account her experience having lived under constant attack by Russian forces. 

"I go out into the street between bombings. I need to walk the dog. She constantly whines, trembles, and hides behind my legs," Nadezhda Sukhorukova wrote on Facebook. "My yard, surrounded by high-rise buildings, is quiet and dead."

Mariupol, a port city located in southeastern Ukraine, has been the subject of the most brutal assaults in the war, laying waste to the city's homes, schools, and maternity hospitals. Some residents have been sheltering for weeks, and many are without food, water, or electricity.

Multiple attempts at ceasefires have failed in Mariupol. Russia's Ministry of Defense called on Ukrainian forces and officials in the city to surrender by 5 a.m. Monday, offering to open humanitarian corridors. Ukrainian officials, who have repeatedly accused Russia of shelling supposed safe passageways, quickly denied the request. 

"I'm sure I'll die soon. It's a matter of days. In this city, everyone is constantly waiting for death. I just wish it wasn't too scary," Sukhorukova said, sharing an anecdote of "a direct hit in the fire department" that killed rescuers. 

"One woman had her arm, leg and head torn off. I dream that my body parts will remain in place, even after the explosion of an air bomb. I don't know why, but it seems important to me," Sukhorukova said. 

Sukhorukova did not respond to a request for comment. According to the New York Times, she has fled Mariupol.

Last week, Russian forces bombed a movie theater in the city where over 1,000 civilians were sheltering. On Friday, authorities reported that 130 people had been rescued from the theater while 1,300 were still trapped. The number of casualties is unknown. 

As morgues in the city have been inundated with the deceased, city officials have resorted to burying civilians and soldiers in mass graves. On Facebook, Sukhorukova said the dead will "not be buried during hostilities." 

"This is what the police answered us when we caught them on the street and asked what to do with the dead grandmother of our friend," Sukhorukova said. "They advised us to put her on the balcony. I wonder, on how many balconies there are dead bodies?" 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that the assault on Mariupol will be "remembered for centuries to come," noting that over 4,000 Mariupol residents have managed to leave for Zaporizhzhia. Hundreds of thousands of civilians remain trapped in the city.

"The besieged Mariupol will go down in history of responsibility for war crimes. The terror the occupiers did to the peaceful city will be remembered for centuries to come," Zelenskyy said in a video address on Telegram.

In Sukhorukova's neighborhood, "the entire yard is covered with several layers of ash, glass, plastic, and metal fragments."

"There are no cars, no voices, no children, no grandmothers on benches," she wrote in a post that was shared on Twitter by the Ukrainian outlet Hromadske. "There are still a few people here. They lie on the side of the house and in the parking lot, covered with outerwear. I don't want to look at them. I'm afraid I'll see someone I know."

Sukhorukova continued: "In Mariupol, people continue to sit in the basement. Every day it gets harder for them to survive," Sukhorukova wrote on Facebook. "They have no water, food, light, they cannot even go outside because of the constant shelling. Mariupol residents must live. Help them. Tell everyone about it. Let everyone know that civilians continue to be killed."

Translations by Oleksandr Vynogradov.