A Ukrainian schoolgirl killed alongside her parents as Russian saboteurs attacked their family car has been pictured.
The girl, named only as Polina, a 4th-grade pupil from Kyiv, was travelling in the car with her family and her brother and sister when they came under fire from a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group.
In her last year of primary school, she is tragically among at least 14 children who are said to have been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday.
Kyiv’s deputy mayor Volodymyr Bondarenko said in a Facebook post that her brother is receiving treatment at Okhmatdyt children’s hospital.
He added that her sister is in intensive care at a second hospital.
He said: “Her name was Polina. She studied in the 4th grade of school in Kyiv. This morning on Teligi her and her parents were shot by Russian DRG.”
Follow the latest updates from Ukraine in our live blog
In the same post he pleaded for people to remain at home unless absolutely necessary.
Sadly, Polina is not the only child who has lost her life.
In Mariupol, Ukrainians were trying to fend off a Russian offensive while medics at a hospital in the city were filmed desperately trying to revive a 6-year-old girl who was horrifically wounded in Russian shelling.
A doctor in blue medical scrub is seen, pumping oxygen into the girl, who is wearing unicorn pyjamas.
The medic looks directly into the camera and say: “Show this to Putin. The eyes of this child, and crying doctors.”
Their resuscitation efforts failed and the child died.
Another young boy burned to death after the block of flats he was in, in Chuhuiv, was shelled by Russian forces.
This comes as fierce fighting continues across Ukraine, focused around their cities as Kharkiv which suffered a deadly missile strike leaving dozens dead and hundreds injured.
In an intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence, they confirmed that fighting continued around Chernihiv and Kharkiv, but both cities remained under Ukrainian control.
The majority of Putin’s ground forces were over 30km north of the capital city Kyiv as their advance was significantly slowed by Ukrainian forces defending Hostomel airfield.
The airbase was a key target for Russia to take on the first day of the conflict, last Thursday.
Alongside Ukrainian resistance, logistical failures had frustrated the Russian advances and despite repeated attempts to spread misinformation, the Russian Armed Forces were forced to acknowledge the casualties they were suffering.
