Horrifying video footage captures the moment a Russian tank opened fire on a civilian car, killing the elderly couple inside.
It comes amid fresh calls for the war crimes prosecution of Russian troops, commanders and President Vladimir Putin over the targeting of civilians.
Footage of the incident, seemingly captured by a CCTV camera on the outside of a building, shows a maroon sedan driving into the bottom left corner of the frame, before abruptly stopping.
A moment later, a tank careens around the corner toward the sedan and gunshots appear to strike the grassy area beside the road as it curves into the distance. Grey smoke rises above the area between the two vehicles.
The tank slows as it continues around the corner before more gunshots are fired directly at the civilian car.
It is momentarily shrouded by smoke, which then clears to reveal a shelled car; the bonnet destroyed and the windows shattered. Yet another round of gunfire strikes the left hand side of the car, causing it to jerk back.
Pieces of the car fly off and onto the road.
Meanwhile, the Russian tank slowly turns around before driving back in the direction it came from.
The video, posted by @ArmedForcesUkr, is tweeted with the caption: “Shooting of a civilian car with people. Russian invaders!”
Another clip posted to Twitter by a woman named Anastasia Horoshchak, who claims to be a Russian citizen, captured a man walking around the battered car while speaking in Ukrainian.
Close-up footage of the car showed the extent of the damage; little glass is left where the windows once were and the bonnet and shell of the doors have been blown off to reveal the mechanics underneath.
The man opens the doors to reveal an elderly man in the driver’s seat, with an elderly woman beside him, her head having drooped to rest on his shoulder.
Bloody holes can be seen on the man’s body where the gunshots have struck him.
On what remains of the windscreen, a yellow disability sticker can be seen.
The caption accompanying the video said: “They shot a car with a sign of disability.
“Two retirees going home.
“Russian peace looks like this???”
A tweet from the Kyiv Independent this afternoon said war crimes like those captured in the video were “part of Russia ’s deliberate strategy”.
“Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter that Russia holds 300,000 civilians hostage in Mariupol, a city in Donetsk Oblast, and prevents humanitarian evacuation despite agreements with the Red Cross mediation,” it continued.
In a video address from an undisclosed location, President Volodymyr Zelensky said a child had died of dehydration in the blockaded southern port of Mariupol, in a sign of how desperate the city's population has become.
He pleaded again with western countries to provide air support.
He said evacuation buses have been sent to Mariupol, but there was no firm agreement on the route, so "Russian troops can simply shoot on this transport on the way".
Mr Zelensky accused the International Red Cross of "forbidding the use of its emblem on our cars", but did not give details.
Buses shown heading out of the city of Sumy and towards Mariupol had signs with a red cross on the side but it is not clear who pasted them there.
