As families continue to flee the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s military has stepped up its violence against civilians seeking safety. On Sunday, Russian soldiers advancing on Kyiv fired mortar shells at a bridge that evacuees were using to escape in Irpin, leaving a mom, her teenage son, and her young daughter dead on the ground as others ran for cover. There had only been a dozen or so Ukrainian soldiers in the area, according to the New York Times, helping people carry luggage.
Russian shelling also thwarted efforts for a second day in a row to evacuate families from Mariupol, a southern port city, leaving more than 200,000 residents stuck in areas under bombardment, according to the Washington Post. Heat, electricity, and water have been cut off for days there. And as Russian soldiers prepared to attack the port city of Odesa, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Sunday that even more lives would be lost. “This will be a war crime,” he said in an emotional video.
The United Nations estimates there have been hundreds of civilian casualties in Ukraine so far, likely an undercount, as the death toll remains unknown. More than 1.5 million refugees have fled the country since Russia invaded on February 24. The UN high commissioner for refugees on Sunday cited “the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II,” even as many others have been unable to get out.
A damaged apartment building after a rocket attack on Mariupol, Ukraine, on February 25. The invasion of a democratic country has fueled fears of wider war in Europe.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
A woman holds her cat in a shelter during Russian shelling in Mariupol on February 24.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
People sit in an improvised bomb shelter in a sports center, which can accommodate up to 2,000 people, in Mariupol on February 27.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
People lie on the floor of a hospital during shelling by Russian forces in Mariupol on March 4.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Serhii, father of teenager Iliya, cries on his son’s lifeless body at a hospital in Mariupol on March 2.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
A Ukrainian soldier carries a baby while helping a fleeing family to cross the Irpin river in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 5.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
Refugees flee Irpin as Russian forces advance on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on March 5.
Justin Yau/ Sipa USA/AP
A soldier holds a helmet as a wedding crown during the wedding ceremony for members of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces Lesia Ivashchenko and Valerii Fylymonov, at a checkpoint in Kyiv on March 6.
Efrem Lukatsky/AP
Civilians learn to use AK47 rifles in a cinema at the Lviv Film Center on March 5.
Pau Venteo/Europa Press/Abaca/Sipa USA/AP
A factory and a store burn after being bombarded in Irpin, in the outskirts of Kyiv, on March 6.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
A Ukrainian soldier walks past the corpses of a family lying on the ground after shelling by the Russian army at the evacuation point of Irpin. Several members of the same family were killed in this attack while trying to flee on March 6.
Diego Herrera/Europa Press/Abaca/Sipa USA/AP
