The children’s mother and grandmother are fighting for their lives in the hospital
Three children and their father were killed in a Russian drone strike in eastern Ukraine, which also injured their pregnant mother and grandmother, local emergency services said.
The family was seeking safety in the city of Bohodukhiv, about 60 kilometers west of Kharkiv, having fled their home further east a few days ago, Ukrainian police said in a statement published on Telegram.
Volodymyr Belyi, the city’s mayor, said the attack was a “crime beyond human understanding.”
“We lost the most precious thing we had – our future. Three little angels: two one-year-old boys and a two-year-old girl,” he said in a statement.
The children’s 34-year-old father died in the attack, while their mother and grandmother “fight for their lives” in hospital.
Police said the mother, who is 35 weeks pregnant, suffered head injuries and burns. The house where the family was staying was “completely destroyed” in the attack and the fire that followed, they added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack showed Russia was not serious about peace.
“Each Russian attack undermines confidence in everything that is being done diplomatically to end this war,” he said in a statement on Telegram.
