Man and puppy walk five days on foot to flee besieged city of Mariupol

A man and his puppy walked five days to safety out of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, braving Russian checkpoints and shelling.

The Ukrainian man, whose first name was given as Ihor, and his dog, Zhuzha, made the 125 mile journey to Ukrainian-held Zaporizhzhia on foot.

Liudmyla Shvaika, an animal rescue volunteer, recounted the story of the dog and its owner.

"Her paw pads are worn so much it hurts to look at them, and her owner could not believe that he made it," Ms Shvaika wrote on Facebook.

"They left Mariupol at their own risk, as they had no idea what the situation was in the rest of the region and whether they would be able to cover such a distance on their feet, and paws."

The journey involved shelling, bad weather and heat, and the dog had to be carried in the man's arms when it was too tired, Ms Shvaika said.

The pair were lucky to find sources of water on their way. But Ihor still sighed with relief when he and Zhuzha reached the first Ukrainian checkpoint. "I feel at home now," Ihor reportedly said after he arrived.

After the long journey, both the man and dog were black with dust and dirt. The dog's condition was stable - she was fed and treated for parasites and her paws were treated.

The United Nations is continuing its attempts to broker an evacuation of civilians from a sprawling Soviet-era steel plant and other bombed-out ruins of Mariupol.

The strategic port city has been under heavy Russian bombardment since the start of the war more than nine weeks ago.

There are up to 1,000 civilians at the Azovstal steelworks, according to Ukrainian officials, who have not said how many fighters remain in the only part of Mariupol not occupied by Russian forces.

The Russians put the number of Ukrainian soldiers at the plant at around 2,000.