Serhii, with his deceased 16-year-old son Iliya who was killed while playing football
(Picture: AP)Heart-breaking images of a father mourning his son have emerged from the city of Mariupol after Russian forces bombarded the city with bombs.
The man, named only as Serhii, hugs his deceased 16-year-old son, Iliya, who was killed by a Russian shell in the port city of Mariupol.
The teenager was fatally wounded on Wednesday while playing footbal near a school in the city on the Azov Sea, according to the Associated Press.
Russia has subjected the city to a relentless barrage of shells.
Residential neighbourhoods have been badly hit, and Mariupol is now without electricity, sanitation or water.
Many civilians are trapped in their homes or in underground car parks without heating, unable to escape because it is too dangerous to leave.
Deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov has said the city is “near to a humanitarian catastrophe” after Russians bombs rained down for 15 continuous hours.
“The Russian army is working through all their weapons here - artillery, multiple rocket launch systems, airplanes, tactical rockets. They are trying to destroy the city,” Mr Orlov said.
The city council has called the devastating bombardment “genocide of the Ukrainian people”.
Dozens of families have also paid tribute to Serge Zevlever, an American-Ukrainian who helped special needs children find adoptive parents.
As a dual citizen, Mr Zevlever could have left the country, but instead chose to stay in Kyiv, and was killed two days after Russia launched its invasion, friends said.
Through his agency, Hand of Help in Adoption, Mr Zevlever had helped hundreds of children.
One adoptive mother who was helped by Mr Zevlever said: “I just received the news that our Ukrainian friend, Serge Zevlever, who facilitated our adoption of Lucy, just died.
“He fought tirelessly for orphaned children & helped thousands find loving homes. He died last night in the streets of Kyiv, fighting for his beloved Ukraine. RIP Serge.”
Meanwhile, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said that one of its members, Maryna Fenina, was killed by shelling as she went to fetch food for her family in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city.
Ms Fenina, who had worked for the OSCE’s observer mission to Ukraine, died while attempting to get supplies in “a city that has become a war zone”.
The Ukrainian authorities have estimated that around 2,000 civilians have been killed as a result of Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Children are known to be among the casualties.
It comes after Russia captured the strategic Black Sea port city of Kherson in the south of Ukraine on Wednesday, the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.
