A Russian airstrike has tragically left 21 people dead, including two children, as Russian pilots 'dropped 500kg bombs' on the Ukrainian city of Sumy.
Images taken at the scene showcase the devastating aftermath of the attack, with small bodies being pulled from the rubble.
One of a team of men working to evacuate the bodies is seen to be gently placing a blanket over the face of an unmoving body, before moving to help elsewhere at the scene, The Mirror writes.
A video of the scene, too graphic to show, was uploaded to the platform Twitter by Ukraine's Ambassador to Austria, Olexander Scherba, who described it as the “barbaric bombardment” of a residential area in Sumy on the evening of March 7.
He wrote: “18 dead civilians. Many children."
Sumy authorities have this morning confirmed the death toll from the strike now sits at 21.
A tweet from Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security (Stratcom Centre UA) about the horror attack said: "Last night Russian pilots committed another crime against humanity in Sumy.
"They dropped 500-kilogram bombs on residential buildings. " it continued.
"#StopRussia"
Dmytro Zhyvytsky, who leads the Sumy Regional Military Administration, also shared a video of the reported attack online.
"The kids are being killed..” he said.
“We will never forgive this!"
It comes as Russia has this morning opened "humanitarian corridors" so people can be evacuated from Sumy and four other Ukrainian cities: Cherhihiv, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol.
A humanitarian corridor is designed as a demilitarised zone that would allow people out safely, with the aim of reducing the number of civilians killed or wounded by attacks on cities.
They are set up as a way of reducing civilian casualties during war.
The corridors would effectively be a safe route where Russian forces would hold fire, an idea first requested by French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the Interfax news agency.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said the first convoy would start at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) from the city of Sumy.
The convoy will be followed by the local population in personal vehicles," she said in a televised statement.
The Ukrainian authorities have also announced that people living in areas particularly badly impacted by war can apply for a relief payment of 6500 UAH (£165).
The first images of the effort to get civilians out of the bombarded city of Sumy have been shared online this morning.
Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation."
The United Nations (UN) has reported that around 1.5 million people have fled the country since the invasion started.
However, many more people are believed to be trapped by the violence.
Russia proposed giving the residents of Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine, and Mariupol, a southern port city, the choice of moving elsewhere in Ukraine on Tuesday, Russian news agencies reported.
Other humanitarian corridors proposed by Russia would travel through Russia or Belarus, something Ukrainian authorities have previously rejected.
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky branded the move as “completely immoral” and blamed Russia for trying to "use people's suffering to create a television picture".
They added: "They are citizens of Ukraine, they should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine".
"This is one of the problems that is causing the humanitarian corridors to break down. They seem to agree to them, but they themselves want to supply humanitarian aid for a picture on TV, and want the corridors to lead in their direction."
Speaking on BBC Breakfast The Europe Minister, James Cleverly, said the offer was “cynical beyond belief”, criticising the corridors as "routes into the arms of the country that is currently destroying yours".
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