Diego Herrera Carcedo/AP
- Russian forces fired mortar shells on the town of Irpin, located just outside of Kyiv, causing civilians to flee.
- Video footage shows civilians and journalists fleeing the town on foot, ducking for cover in between blasts.
- At least three people – a mother and two children – were killed in the violence, The New York Times reported.
Russian forces fired mortar shells on the town of Irpin, located just outside of Kyiv, causing civilians to flee on Sunday.
Video footage from Reuters shows civilians and reporters running through Irpin, which sits about 25 km (or 16 miles) northwest of the Ukrainian capital. Amid explosions, people dropped to the ground to duck and cover.
“Go, go, go! Move!” someone behind the camera shouted after a large blast struck. “Take cover!”
The video shows people helping each other to safety and asking if anyone was injured.
—Reuters (@Reuters) March 6, 2022
The violence left three people in a family of four dead after a shell landed in the street, according to The New York Times. Ukrainian soldiers tried to tend to the father of the family, who was unconscious. A mother and two children were already dead on the ground, the Times reported.
Sunday marks the 11th day of Russia’s assault on Ukraine. Since the initial attack on February 24, Russia has claimed the major city of Kherson as well as a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin initially said that his invasion of Ukraine would not target any civilians, but the offensive has since indiscriminately bombed multiple towns and cities, hitting hospitals, apartment buildings, and an orphanage.
In the city of Mariupol, Russian forces did not adhere to the second cease-fire agreed upon between Russian and Ukrainian forces, trapping some 200,000 civilians. The cease was intended to allow civilians to escape through a designated safe route out of the city, but it fell apart when Russian troops began “heavy shelling.”
Russian forces are also targeting Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Chuguiv, Izium, Bucha, Bila Tserkva, among others, the Ukrainian Parliament said on Sunday in a plea for a no-fly zone over the country.
NATO has said implementing a no-fly zone would escalate the conflict into “a full-fledged war in Europe, involving many more countries and causing much more human suffering.”
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