The younger brother of a pink-haired schoolgirl who died alongside their parents after being shot near Kyiv, Ukraine has now passed away.
Five-year-old Semyon was left fighting for his life along with his 13-year-old sister, Sofia, after their family attempted the flee the country but he died on Wednesday, according to a family friend.
His sister, 10-year-old Polina and their parents, Anton Kudrin and Svetlana Zapadynskaya, were reportedly killed by Russian troops as the family were in a car trying to leave Kyiv.
A picture of pink-haired Polina was shared on Wednesday by the deputy mayor of Kyiv, Volodymyr Bondarenko, who said: “Her name was Polina. She studied in the 4th grade of school in Kyiv.
“Her and her parents were shot by Russian DRG (sabotage reconnaissance groups).”
Polina was in her final year of primary school and is thought to be the first identified child victim of the war.
Semyon was receiving treatment at Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv and remained in critical condition for 72 hours before passing away.
His older sister, Sofia, remains in intensive care at another hospital unaware that her entire family has died.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 16 children had been killed in the conflict, but that figure is likely to have increased since.
Among those children, a six-year-old girl wearing pink unicorn-print pyjamas was fatally wounded by shelling in Mariupol, south-east Ukraine on Sunday.
A doctor who attempted to save the child’s life said to a video-journalist from Associated Press: “Show this to Putin – the eyes of this child, and crying doctors.”
In an address to the European Parliament, President Zelensky said: “Again and again, President Putin is going to say that is some kind of operation and we are hitting a military infrastructure.
“But where are our children? What kind of military factories do they work at? What tanks are they going with?”
