A three-month-old girl, along with her mother and grandmother, were among those killed in a recent missile strike by Russian forces, Ukrainian authorities said.
Officials and local reporters say the three relatives were killed after a rocket hit a residential building in the port city of Odessa on Saturday. At least eight people were killed in the attack and 18 were injured.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky condemned the strike as he spoke to reporters Sunday.
“The war started when this baby was one month old,” he said. “Can you imagine what’s going on?” They are dirty scum, there are no other words for that. “
The president also promised to punish those responsible for the attack.
Citing reports on social media, the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN identified the baby’s mother as Valeria Glodan. Glodan’s husband, Yuri, shared photos of his wife and child on Facebook after the strike.
Carried out on the eve of Orthodox Easter, the shelling came as Russian troops advanced in an attempt to gain full control of Ukraine’s Donbass region, striking cities and towns in the southern and eastern parts of the country.
According to Zelenski, there is evidence that Russian troops have killed tens of thousands of civilians in the city of Mariupol and tried to cover it up. He also said Ukraine had intercepted Russian talks about troops “covering up the traces of their crimes”.
As Zelensky prepared to meet with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Kyiv on Sunday, he also called on Western countries to help supply more powerful weapons to Ukraine, including long-range air defense systems. and fighter jets.
Andriy Melnik, Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, also mentioned the deaths on Twitter, criticizing the German government for its reluctance to send heavy weapons. In a tweet posted on Sunday, Melnik wrote that while the German government was “hesitant” about the supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine, Russian forces were killing civilians, including a three-month-old baby and her mother.
Love ampel-regierung, while you are on the lookout for great modernism. Wie diese junge Mutter mit ihrem Baby, gestern im Roketenbeschuss, в Одеса. So, you want no nuclear war. Good pic.twitter.com/DyBlivqCpY
– Andrew Melnik (@MelnykAndrij) April 24, 2022
With files from the Associated Press and Storyful.
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