In the aftermath of the bombing of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, destruction, dust and terror lie everywhere. This morning, a Russian missile struck the city’s regional administrative building. Civilian infrastructure, including homes, have been hit.
On our front page today is Sofia, aged six, who died alongside four other members of her family, including her baby brother Ivan. It follows the heartbreaking images we published yesterday of another six-year-old girl who was killed.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has called for an international investigation into Russia’s actions, which he describes as war crimes for deliberately targeting civilians.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States accused the Russian military of using banned vacuum bombs, which produce blast waves far greater, and therefore indiscriminately deadlier, than conventional explosives.
It is clear that Putin does not care what world opinion is and it appears that he is prepared to raze entire cities to the ground to achieve his aim. This is Putin’s war. But his generals too cannot escape responsibility for their actions.
As a convoy of Russian tanks stretching back 40 miles threaten Kyiv, the world is watching. Unlike Joseph Stalin’s crimes of the past, the cameras are rolling, reporters and citizen journalists are documenting what they see. Those who commit war crimes can and must be prosecuted.
