Devastating images and videos have laid bare the horror of Vladimir Putin’s lawless invasion of Ukraine, as Russian troops unleash heavy gunfire and missiles on local residents.
Heartbreaking footage, taken in Irpin, located on the outskirts of the besieged capital city, confirmed that Russian forces are attacking heavily populated civilian areas where men, women and children are leaving the country as the Russian tyrant continues denying bombing Ukrainian cities.
As residents continue to evacuate across cities in Ukraine, heartbreaking footage shows that civilians are being attacked with heavy gunfire and missiles in Irpin, 20 kilometres north-west of Kyiv.
But an increasingly delusional Putin is insisting that Russia is not bombing Ukrainian cities, despite mounting fears that 100 people are buried under rubble after an apartment block near Kyiv was struck and after a cluster bomb attack on the city of Chernihiv killed 49 earlier this week.
Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Ukrainians to continue fighting Vladimir Putin’s forces but today warned that Russian forces are preparing to shell Odessa – a historic port city on the Black Sea coast.
Russia has made progress in southern Ukraine since its invasion 11 days ago, overrunning the city of Kherson and shelling the port of Mariupol, but Odessa has so far been largely spared.
Attempts to evacuate civilians from Mariupol will restart on Sunday after similar efforts yesterday were scuppered by Russian bombing just 45 minutes after a ceasefire was agreed.
Some 400,000 residents will begin to be evacuated from 12pm today, with the agreement in place until 9pm, according to the city council of Mariupol.
People will be able to use private transport to travel out the city, currently encircled by Russian troops, and will be accompanied by the Red Cross, while deviating from the set route is prohibited.
The city council has said: ‘We ask all drivers leaving the city to facilitate the evacuation of civilians as much as possible – take people with you, fill the transport as much as possible.’
According to aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) the humanitarian situation in Mariupol, a key target for the Russian invasion forces, is currently ‘catastrophic’ with no power or water in civilian homes. They have called for a ‘humanitarian corridor’ to be imposed ‘very quickly’.
The Ukrainian government said the plan was to evacuate around 200,000 people from Mariupol and 15,000 from Volnovakha, and the Red Cross is the ceasefire’s guarantor. There was no immediate confirmation that firing had stopped and it was not clear if the ceasefire would be extended to other areas, as Putin’s war with Ukraine entered its 10th day.
The evacuation will be seen as a prelude to a final assault that, if successful, would see the Russian army push north from occupied Crimea and link up with their forces from the east and take control of Ukraine’s coast on the Sea of Azov.
Earlier this morning, artillery hit a queue of people outside a grocery store in the Piatykhatky neighbourhood of Kharkiv, northern Ukraine
person, who was trying to flee with his family, lies on the ground after the shelling of the Russian army at the evacuation point of Irpin, several members of the same family have been killed in this attack today
Ukrainian servicemen try to help people who have been wounded in Irpin – as an increasingly delusional Putin is insisting that Russia is not bombing Ukrainian cities, despite mounting fears that 100 people are buried under rubble after an apartment block near Kyiv was struck and after a cluster bomb attack on the city of Chernihiv killed 49 earlier this week.
Russia has made progress in southern Ukraine since its invasion 11 days ago, overrunning the city of Kherson and shelling the port of Mariupol, but Odessa has so far been largely spared
A Ukrainian soldier walks past the corpses of a family lying on the ground after shelling by the Russian army at the evacuation point of Irpin, several members of the same family have been killed in this attack while trying to flee
As residents continue to evacuate across cities in Ukraine, heartbreaking footage shows that civilians are being attacked with heavy gunfire and missiles in Irpin, 20 kilometres north-west of Kyiv
Many Ukrainian war refugees have taken a long and perilous journey to flee the destruction brought about by President Vladimir Putin – with 1.5 million crossing into neighbouring countries in 10 days, new stats have revealed
Since Russia invaded on February 24, Moscow has pummelled Ukrainian cities, with officials reporting hundreds of civilians killed. Europe’s largest atomic power plant has even come under attack sparking fears of a catastrophic nuclear accident. But Russia has so far only seized two key cities, Berdiansk and Kherson on Ukraine’s southern Black Sea coast.
Capturing Mariupol represents a bigger prize for Russian forces as it would deal a severe blow to Ukraine’s maritime access and connect with troops coming from annexed Crimea and the Donbas.
While the vast Russian armoured column threatening Ukraine’s capital remained stalled outside Kyiv, Putin’s military has launched hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites across the country.
More than 840 children have been wounded in the war, and 28 have been killed, according to Ukraine’s government. A total of 331 civilians had been confirmed killed but the true number is probably much higher, the UN human rights office said.
It comes as new figures from the UN have confirmed that more than 1.5million refugees have now fled war-torn Ukraine since Russia invaded.
Since Russia invaded on February 24, Moscow has pummelled Ukrainian cities, with officials reporting hundreds of civilians killed. Europe’s largest atomic power plant has even come under attack sparking fears of a catastrophic nuclear accident
People cross on an improvised path under a bridge that was destroyed by a Russian airstrike, while fleeing the town of Irpin, Ukraine, on Saturday
Many Ukrainian war refugees have taken a long and perilous journey to flee the destruction brought about by President Vladimir Putin – with 1.5 million crossing into neighbouring countries in 10 days.
It comes as the UN High Commissioner for Refugee Agency, Filippo Grandi, called it the ‘fastest growing crisis in Europe since World War II’, as it was revealed mostly women and children are arriving at the borders.
Mr Grandi tweeted yesterday morning: ‘More than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed into neighbouring countries in 10 days — the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.’
UNCHR communications chief Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams added: ‘The rate of this exodus is quite phenomenal. We know that there are many more on the move. Also there are possibly equal numbers inside the country that are internally displaced.’
Meanwhile, the number of war refugees who have travelled to Poland from Ukraine is set to reach one million today as Polish border guards revealed there have been record arrivals.
They cleared as many as 129,000 people at border crossings on Saturday in a single day – taking their total to 922,400.
