SENSELESS SLAUGHTER
Tragic last moments of smiling mum & girl walking home from school before being hit by Putin’s missiles that killed 20
HEARTBREAKING footage shows a smiling Ukrainian mum and daughter walking home from nursery, just one hour before they were brutally hit by a Russian missile strike.
At least 20 people have been killed and dozens more wounded after Putin's butchers viciously bombed the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia.
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In a haunting final video the mother shared on her Instagram, she smiles at the camera as she films herself and her young daughter, who pushes a pram.
The mum wears white trousers and a blouse, while her daughter wears white trousers and a blue denim jacket.
A live clock in the corner of the screen shows the clip was filmed at 9.38am local time (7.38 BST).
The Russian missile struck the car park of a nine-storey office block at 10.50am local time (8.50 BST), killing 20 people including the little girl in the video.
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Horrific pictures show the aftermath of the shelling, with the black and pink pram shown lying on its side next to the body of the young girl.
The mother is believed to have survived, although unconfirmed reports claim her leg was blown off in the blast.
She has been named online by her purported boss as Irisha Dmitrieva.
Earlier pictures show the mum holding her daughter, Liza, who was reported to have Down's Syndrome as well as arthritis in one leg.
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This year, Irisha posted on social media about her hopes of holding a birthday party for Liza for the first time in two years.
"I am hoping her fifth birthday will give us a chance," she said.
Her employer Irina Asman, who is the director of the Kartel publishing house, reported that Irisha was fighting for life, while her young child had been killed.
She wrote on Facebook: "Today in Vinnytsia, our employee Irisha Dmitrieva, along with her little daughter, were at the epicentre of shelling.
"Her daughter died on the spot… Ira is in serious condition in intensive care."
Slamming the Russians for the attack, she added: "So much grief, so many tears. There is no strength anymore."
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Three long-range missiles blitzed an office block and homes and set at least 50 vehicles on fire as fresh horror erupted in broad daylight in Vinnytsia - far from the frontline.
The deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said at least three children were among the dead after a Russian submarine in the Black Sea fired on the city.
Horrific images from the blast site showed a smashed pushchair lying on the pavement after a mum and her toddler were both reportedly killed in the strike.
One man at the scene screamed amid the carnage and chaos: "Scumbags! This is the centre of Vinnytsia. Bloody hell… this was a child and there is the mother."
A severed adult foot was pictured amid the debris nearby as sirens wailed and locals screamed in pain and fury after one of the deadliest strikes on a civilian target since Russia invaded.
The blanket-shrouded body of a middle-aged woman in a patterned dress was seen being stretchered out of the smoking ruin of the nine-storey office block.
Other footage at the scene with thick black smoke rising from the apex of the strike.
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Rescuers feared the death toll could rise as teams scoured the rubble for victims yet to be accounted for.
A senior regional emergency service official told Ukrainian television: "Unfortunately, there is probably no chance of finding anyone who survived under the rubble."
A maternity hospital was also hit by the blast wave from the strike, which hit the car park of the "Yuvelirniy" office block at 10.50am local time.
Vinnytsia is one of Ukraine's largest cities - with a population of 370,000 - and thousands of people from the east have fled there since the start of the war.
Other footage at the scene with thick black smoke rising from the apex of the strike.
Her daughter died on the spot… Ira is in serious condition in intensive care.
Irina Asman
The governor of the Vinnytsia region, Serhiy Borzov, said Ukrainian air defence systems shot down another four Russian missiles in the area.
Outraged Ukrainian fumed that the attack was yet another example of butcher Vladimir Putin's "terrorist" war crimes.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky raged: ";There are wounded and dead, among them a small child - what is this, if not an open act of terrorism?
"Every day Russia is destroying civilians, killing Ukrainian children, and aiming missiles at civilian sites, where there is nothing linked to the military.
"They are not humans."
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Russia of committing "another war crime".
He said: "We will put Russian war criminals on trial for every drop of Ukrainian blood and tears.”
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The outrage followed another last month which killed dozens of innocents when a Russian missile blasted a busy shopping centre in Kremenchuk, 290 miles east of Vinnytsia.
Kremlin officials denied targeting civilian areas after the attack.
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