VLADIMIR Putin’s forces have stepped up their assault on Ukraine after 47 people were killed in one attack allegedly using deadly cluster bombs. Terrified mothers and children were forced to take shelter in a basement after Russian shells struck a maternity hospital in the west of Ukraine. It comes as President Putin issued a fresh […]
VLADIMIR Putin’s forces have stepped up their assault on Ukraine after 47 people were killed in one attack allegedly using deadly cluster bombs.
Terrified mothers and children were forced to take shelter in a basement after Russian shells struck a maternity hospital in the west of Ukraine.
It comes as President Putin issued a fresh warning to Russia’s neighbours not to “escalate the situation” by supporting Ukraine.
Russia has been accused of deliberately targeting civilians, as the death toll from an attack in a residential district of Chernihiv, northern Ukraine, rose to 47.
Chilling video filmed in the aftermath of the blast shows the bodies of Ukrainians strewn across the streets in one of the hardest-hit regions of the conflict.
Windows were shattered in the blast, while burned-out cars scatter the road following the strike on Thursday.
Dashcam footage verified by Reuters captures the moment a flurry of rockets hit the city of around 290,000 people.
Suddenly, a massive blast explodes directly in front of the driver. As the smoke begins to clear, dozens flee from the blast.
Rescue crews were searching the rubble through the night for more victims.
In a separate attack, a maternity hospital was struck in a residential area of Zhytomyr, western Ukraine, on Thursday, killing at least two people.
The Kyiv Independent reported that a cruise missile landed on an apartment building near Pavlusenko Hospital.
A dramatic clip from the scene shows huge flames leaping into the sky following the blast.
Mothers and children were forced to hide in the basement during the blitz, which hit the city where a number of refugees have gone as they flee west from the fighting.
Another airstrike in the city hit a school.
In the city of Irpin, on the northwestern fringe of Kyiv, devastating photos show the extent of the destruction wrought by the Russian advance.
Kyiv’s Mayor, former world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, claims a 40-mile convoy of Russian military vehicles are getting closer to the capital city, after their advance was stalled by days of fierce Ukrainian resistance.
Amnesty International has said Russia may have committed war crimes during the eight-day conflict, and accused Putin’s forces of violating international humanitarian law.
“The Russian military has shown a blatant disregard for civilian lives by using ballistic missiles and other explosive weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas,” the organisation’s Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said.
“Some of these attacks may be war crimes. The Russian government, which falsely claims to use only precision-guided weapons, should take responsibility for these acts.”
The International Criminal Court has announced it will investigate potential Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
Russia continues to deny it has carried out any illegal attacks.
