Ukraine says Russian forces kill seven civilians in evacuation convoy

Ukraine accused Russian forces on Saturday of killing seven civilians in an attack on women and children trying to flee fighting near Kyiv, and France said Russian President Vladimir Putin had shown he was not ready to make peace.

Emergency rescue work is seen underway after an attack, where a residential building was reportedly hit by a rocket, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Kharkiv, March 12, 2022, in this screengrab obtained from handout video. State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS

With Russia’s invasion in its third week, the Ukrainian intelligence service said the seven, including one child, were killed as they fled the village of Peremoha and that “the occupiers forced the remnants of the column to turn back.”

Ukrainian officials later said the convoy was not traveling along a “green corridor” agreed with Russia when it was struck on Friday, correcting their earlier assertion that it was on such a designated route.

Reuters was unable immediately to verify the report and Russia offered no immediate comment.

Moscow denies targeting civilians since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24. It blames Ukraine for failed attempts to evacuate civilians from encircled cities, an accusation Ukraine and its Western allies strongly reject.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow was sending in new troops after Ukrainian forces put 31 of Russia’s battalion tactical groups out of action in what he called Russia’s largest army losses in decades. It was not possible to verify his statements.

“We still need to hold on. We still have to fight,” Zelenskiy said in a video address late on Saturday, his second of the day.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/fighting-rages-outside-kyiv-ukraine-says-it-hopes-humanitarian-corridors-can-2022-03-12/