Russian drones kill 3 toddlers, father in Ukraine
Local people clear debris at the site of a Russian airstrike in the Sloviansk, Donetsk region, on Wednesday after Russia resumed its attacks on Monday. Photo by Tommaso Fumagalli/EPA
Feb. 11 (UPI) — Local officials said a Russian drone strike on Ukraine‘s northeastern Kharkiv region killed three toddlers and their father, and injured their pregnant mother Wednesday.
The family was spending its first night in their new home in Bohodukhiv when it was struck during a drone and missile attack, regional leader Oleh Synegubov announced, the BBC reported.
The attack killed 2-year-old twins Ivan and Vladislav, their 1-year-old sister, Myroslava, and their father, Gryhoriy, 34.
The family’s 35-year-old injured mother, Olha, was 35 weeks pregnant and sustained burns and head injuries as the home was completely destroyed, local officials said.
Bohodukhiv Mayor Volodymyr Belyi called the aerial attack a “crime that is beyond human comprehension,” as reported by CNN.
“We lost the most precious thing we had — our future,” Belyi added.
The family recently evacuated the town of Zolochiv, which is located near the Russian border, due to ongoing shelling and sought refuge in Bohodukhiv, which is located 38 miles west of Kharkiv.
The attack shows that Russia has no intention of ending the war that it started by invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Each Russian strike undermines confidence in everything that is being done diplomatically to end this war,” Zelensky said in a statement.
He said Russia deployed 129 attack drones during the overnight hours that struck Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Zaporizhzhia.
The aerial attacks carried into the daytime hours on Wednesday and included a strike on a medical vehicle that was carrying five healthcare professionals and civilians. One woman died in that attack.
Russian forces also launched two ballistic missiles that targeted the area near Lviv on Wednesday afternoon, but Ukrainian aerial defenses intercepted and destroyed them.
Russia had paused the aerial attacks for a week amid extremely cold weather, but Monday’s resumption killed a 10-year-old boy and a 41-year-old woman in Bohodukhiv.
The town has been targeted every day so far this week as Russian forces seek to damage energy and transport infrastructure with drones and ballistic missiles.
The strikes caused Ukrainian officials to declare a state of emergency due to the effect on local energy sources.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainians are without power and lack heat and running water during the frigid winter weather.
Russia’s resumption of attacks comes as Ukrainian and Russian officials are considering meeting in Washington, D.C., to further discuss a potential cease-fire and plan for peace.