By the Associated Press.

As Mariupol’s defenders defiantly hold out, the number of bodies in the rubble of the bombarded and encircled Ukrainian city remain shrouded in uncertainty, the full extent of the horror not yet known. The fate of those inside an art school flattened on Sunday and a theater that was blown apart four days earlier is unclear.

Ukraine flatly rejected Russia’s offer of safe passage out of Mariupol in return for the city’s surrender.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed those who are fighting back against Russia, saying “Resistance for Ukrainians is part of their soul.”