RAINING DEATH
Russia ‘deliberately’ killing civilians as horror pics show ‘cluster bomb’ attack that left 47 dead and blitz on school
VLADIMIR Putin's forces were accused of deliberately killing Ukrainian civilians today after 47 people died in one attack allegedly using deadly cluster bombs.
Elsewhere Russia launched a terrifying new bombardment in the west of the country where a school and a maternity hospital were blitzed from the air.
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Terrified mothers and children were forced to take shelter in the basement of the hospital in a residential area of Zhytomyr.
At least two died in the hospital attack, while a nearby school was reduced to rubble.
Zhytomyr - which had so far escaped heavy damage - lies 90 miles west of Kyiv on the main road used by refugees heading to Poland and Hungary.
Irpin, near Kyiv, also came under heavy fire shelling which set homes on fire.
Some of the worst destruction has been in Chernihiv in the northeast, where horrifying pictures showed blocks of flats turned to smouldering ruins.
More victims were pulled from the rubble today as rescuers confirmed the death toll from one attack had risen to 47.
Chilling video filmed in the aftermath showed bodies strewn across the streets in one of the hardest-hit regions of the conflict.
It comes as President Putin issued a fresh warning to Russia's neighbours not to "escalate the situation" by supporting Ukraine.
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Windows were shattered in the blast, while burned-out cars scatter the road following the strike on Thursday.
Dashcam footage verified by Reuters captures the moment a flurry of rockets hit the city of around 290,000 people.
Suddenly, a massive blast explodes directly in front of the driver. As the smoke begins to clear, dozens flee from the blast.
Rescue crews were searching the rubble through the night for more victims.
The Kyiv Independent reported that a cruise missile landed on an apartment building near Pavlusenko Hospital.
A dramatic clip from the scene shows huge flames leaping into the sky following the blast.
In the city of Irpin, on the northwestern fringe of Kyiv, devastating photos show the extent of the destruction wrought by the Russian advance.
It comes as...
- Vladimir Putin may be seriously ill, which could be triggering his desperate attempt to conquer Ukraine, experts have claimed
- Russian soldiers are accused of raping Ukrainian women, according to Ukraine's foreign ministry
- Europe's biggest nuclear power plant, Enerhodar, is in Russian hands after a fierce battle overnight triggered a fire and fears of a deadly radiation leak
- The Klitschko brothers have warned the world is facing 'a Chernobyl/Fukushima combined' in the wake of the raid
- Ukrainian troops shot down a Russian attack helicopter in dramatic footage
- The world's biggest plane, the Antonov An-225, has been destroyed after Russian troops blasted it at the Hostomel airfield outside of Kyiv
- Putin's spies have drawn up plans for public executions in Ukraine as part of their brutal takeover
- A defiant Putin has branded Ukrainians 'extreme gangsters and brainwashed' in his first public address since the invasion
Russian troops have been accused of raping Ukrainian women as they rampage through the country by the country's government.
As the war enters its ninth day, the country's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said there were reports of Putin's soldiers sexually assaulting women.
Kyiv's Mayor, former world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, claims a 40-mile convoy of Russian military vehicles are getting closer to the capital city after their advance was stalled by days of fierce Ukrainian resistance.
He told a briefing at Chatham House: "We have numerous cases of, unfortunately, when Russian soldiers rape women in the Ukrainian cities."
Kuleba backed a call for the creation of a special tribunal to punish Moscow's aggression as Russia's hostility escalates beyond bombing.
Kuleba said international law "is the only tool of civilisation that is available to us to make sure that in the end, eventually, all those who made this war possible will be brought to justice".
He said: "We are fighting against the enemy who is much stronger than us.
"But the international law is on our side, and hopefully... it will make its own contribution to help us prevail."
Svetlana Zorina, 27, from the Russian-controlled city of Kherson, also accused the invading Russian forces of sexually assaulting women.
She told : "They already started to rape our women.
"There was information from people that I personally know that a 17-year-old girl - it happened to her and then they killed her."
She added: “We are terrified and scared but we are not going to give up."
Zorina said leaving the house had now become too "dangerous".
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All you need to know about Russia's invasion of Ukraine
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At least 100 people are feared trapped under rubble in Borodyanka, just northwest of Kyiv after a residential building was shelled on Thursday.
The Ukrainian State Emergency Service said on Friday rescuers who tried to approach the collapsed building were fired upon.
Fires were still burning hours after the blast, as the area came under severe bombardment.
Amnesty International has said Russia may have committed war crimes during the eight-day conflict, and accused Putin's forces of violating international humanitarian law.
"The Russian military has shown a blatant disregard for civilian lives by using ballistic missiles and other explosive weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas," the organisation's Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said.
"Some of these attacks may be war crimes. The Russian government, which falsely claims to use only precision-guided weapons, should take responsibility for these acts."
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The International Criminal Court has announced it will investigate potential Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
Russia continues to deny it has carried out any illegal attacks.
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