"He Was Crossing The Road": Ukraine Woman Recalls How Her Father Was Killed In Russian Shelling

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is into its third week and as the days pass by, civilians are increasingly becoming the target of the attacks.

The confirmed number of civilians killed in Ukraine as per the UN.¡¯s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is 549, out of which 41 were children.

AFP

Actual death toll could be higher

The agency however noted that the actual death toll is believed to be ¡°considerably higher.¡±

From 24 Feb¡ª9 March, we recorded 1,506 civilian casualties in context of Russia¡¯s armed attack against #Ukraine: 549 killed, incl 41 children; 957 injured, incl 52 children, mostly caused by shelling & airstrikes. Actual toll is much higher. Full update https://t.co/tZAAjKOTEU pic.twitter.com/pcZnGhQ2uq

¡ª UNHumanRightsUkraine (@UNHumanRightsUA) March 10, 2022

¡°Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and missile and airstrikes,¡± that office said.

¡°OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, especially in government-controlled territory and especially in recent days,¡± the office said.

The report said that getting information from locations where ¡°intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed.¡± Many reports ¡°are still pending corroboration,¡± the OHCHR added.

AFP

¡°This concerns, for example, the towns of Volnovakha, Mariupol, Izium where there are allegations of hundreds of civilian casualties,¡± the office said, noting that its report did not include casualty statistics from those areas.

Maria Semykoz, a Ukrainian entrepreneur has said that she has lost her father to a Russian shelling in the city of Siverskodonetsk in Luhansk in Eastern Ukraine.

Mykola Semikoz was killed by the Russian Army while crossing the street in his hometown on Tuesday.

According to Maria, her dad was killed in the city where he lived for 50 years and he had stayed back there as he didn¡¯t want to leave.

"Won't be able to bury him properly"

In an emotional note posted on Twitter, Maria said that she won't be able to bury him properly due to the ongoing war.

My dad was killed by Russian fascists when he was crossing a street at midday in the city where he lived for 50 years. He didn¡¯t want to leave. Fleeing wasn¡¯t his style. RIP Dad. I love you ?? #russiawarcrimes #Severodonetsk #RussiaUkraineWar #StopPutin pic.twitter.com/3ZLGSZTDZR

¡ª Maria Semykoz ?? (@MariaSemykoz) March 10, 2022

Around 2.3 million refugees have fled Ukraine since the invasion began, more than half going to Poland, according to the UN refugee agency.

Growing tensions

Meanwhile, on Friday, Russian shelling hit civilian targets in central Ukraine's Dnipro city on Friday, as Moscow's troops edged closer to Kyiv.

In the early hours of Friday, Russian war planes carried out what appeared to be the first direct attack on Dnipro, killing one person, emergency services said.

AFP

Three air strikes hit a kindergarten, apartment building and a shoe factory, the emergency services statement said.

Elsewhere, the Ukrainian military warned "the enemy is trying to eliminate the defences of the Ukrainian forces around" regions to the west and northwest of the capital "to block Kyiv."

"We can't rule out a movement of the enemy to the east towards Brovary," they said in a statement.

Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko said half the city's population had fled and the capital "has been transformed into a fortress".

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