Civilians ran for their lives in the city of Irpin as Russian troops targeted their escape route in another horrifying day of innocent Ukrainians being slaughtered.
Around eight people, including two children, were killed yesterday when Russian forces opened fire on residents who were trying to flee by bus, according to the city’s Mayor Oleksandr Markushin.
Three more died when Russians shelled a damaged bridge in the city they were using to escape.
But the toll of civilian victims in Irpin, which lies 16 miles north-west of the capital Kyiv, could be far higher as it has been regularly bombarded in recent days.
The UN says that, nationally, 364 civilians have been confirmed killed in the fighting, including 20 children, with hundreds more injured, many of them seriously. However, Ukrainian emergency services say more than 2,000 civilians have died.
It came amid reports of 11,000 Russian troops killed, sparking fears Moscow is planning even more ferocious attacks on soldiers and civilians, with increasingly deadly weapons.
The key port city of Mariupol was also pounded again yesterday. Ukraine officials confirmed that a second attempted evacuation of the besieged city was thwarted by shelling. Fleeing civilians were meant to be given a nine-hour safety corridor.
But artillery fire blasted the city within seconds of an agreed time for the ceasefire to begin. It came 24 hours after the first failed ceasefire.
Interior ministry adviser Anton Garashchenko said: “There can be no green corridors because only the sick brain of the Russians decides when to start shooting and at whom.”
It sparked fresh calls for the war crimes prosecution of Russian troops, commanders and President Vladimir Putin over the targeting of civilians.
Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko, who represents 200,000 residents, said in a video call: “They are destroying us.
“They will not even give us an opportunity to count the wounded and the killed because the shelling does not stop.” In the port city, mothers mourned slain children, wounded soldiers were fitted with tourniquets and doctors worked by the light of their mobile phones to save lives.
Dead bodies lay in the street and apartment blocks burned, while residents ran out of water and food.
Mayor Boychenko added: “The city is in a very difficult state of siege. Relentless shelling of residential blocks is ongoing, planes have been dropping bombs on residential areas.”
In a counter-attack, a Ukrainian special unit of National Guards assaulted Russian troops encircling the city. The attack is said to have killed 30 soldiers and destroyed three Russian tanks and four infantry vehicles.
One tank commander surrendered, as other captured soldiers claimed that they were not aware they were being sent to Ukraine when deployed.
In another sinister move, more than 100 weapons installations have been spotted being brought into the north of Ukraine, including the TOS-1 multi-rocket flamethrower, capable of wiping out entire buildings.
Point-U Tochka missile systems with a range of 75 miles were moving south in Belarus towards the border.
Artillery teams also attacked a second nuclear reactor in the second largest city of Kharkiv and the national security service warned it could spark a “large-scale ecological disaster”.
Police also reported shelling and air raids in the north-east Kharkiv region, as Starokostiantyniv air base, in west Ukraine, was destroyed. It follows the levelling of Vinnytsia airport, which was hit by eight missiles.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is now preparing to bombard the historic port of Odesa.
In a televised address the defiant leader said: “Rockets against Odesa? This will be a war crime.” He went on to demand an immediate no-fly zone above Ukraine. He added: “The world is strong enough to close our skies.”
Ukrainian soldiers have been digging trenches around Kyiv, which is expecting a major assault soon.
The city, along with Zhytomyr, 85 miles west of the capital, is being pummelled by air strikes from Su-35S and Su-25 bombers from Belarus.
Last night sources said that troops are also bracing for an assault from Chechen forces in the city of Bucha, 20 miles north-west of Kyiv.
And the World Health Organisation confirmed there had been attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “Attacks on healthcare facilities or workers breach medical neutrality and are violations of international humanitarian law.”
