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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Kieren Williams

109 empty prams placed in square to mark each child slaughtered by Putin's forces

109 empty baby prams were placed in a square in the centre of the Ukrainian city of Lviv, to mark each of the children slaughtered by Vladimir Putin's forces since the Russian invasion began.

The heartbreaking images show rows and rows of empty prams of various colours, set out in the Rynok square in the historic western Ukrainian city under blue skies.

Each one of the prams is empty and represents a child killed since February 24, and a family mourning their tragic loss.

The eerie picture is a timely reminder of the human cost of the Kremlin's actions.

The prams were put behind rails to keep them undisturbed and to allow passers-by to see them.

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109 children have been killed since the invasion began on February 24 (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyi said: "109 kids. 109 kids have been killed by Russians since the day one of full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"Empty prams on Rynok Square in Lviv today symbolize the lives of little angels.

"They are now defending Ukraine’sky instead of decisive actions of the world."

His words echoed Ukraine's calls for the west to turn the country's airspace into a no-fly zone.

The heartbreaking display was a poignant reminder of the barbarity displayed by Russia's forces (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

However, western leaders like Joe Biden have always said that they would never take such an action as it would likely lead to open war with Russia.

As the invasion continues, an intelligence update from the British Ministry of Defence said that Russia had made "minimal progress" this week.

The stuttering attack was reportedly initially planned by the Kremlin to be a 'lightning invasion', that would have seen them take the country in a matter of days and depose the standing government.

The mayor of Lviv said the prams 'symbolize the lives of little angels' (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Instead, Russia finds itself struggling to take the major cities and urban centres, while negotiating with the government it sought to depose.

The display of prams is just one sign this week of Russia's barbarity. Experts have said that, after its failure to take the cities quickly, the Kremlin then turned to indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets.

This week also saw a theatre in Mariupol that was sheltering around 1,300 civilians attacked.

Serhiy Taruta, a Ukrainian politician, confirmed the atrocity and said hundreds remain unaccounted for.

He added they cannot be evacuated because the rescue services in the city have been decimated by Russian forces.

In a Facebook post, he wrote: "No one understands. Services that are supposed to help are demolished, rescue and utility services... are physically destroyed.

"A lot of doctors have been killed. This means that all the survivors of the bombing will either die under the ruins of the theater, or have already died."

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