A nine-year-old girl, her mother and another woman were killed yesterday in a Russian missile attack on Kiev after they failed to open the shelter's door, eyewitnesses said.
Police opened a criminal investigation into their deaths near a medical clinic in the Desanyansk district of Kiev, after the Ukrainian capital was targeted by Russian missiles for the 18th time since early May.
"Three people, one of whom was a child, were killed last night near the clinic," said Mayor Vitalij Klitschko. "Part of the missile fell near the entrance of the clinic four minutes after the sirens sounded and people were directed to shelter."
Residents said that people could not enter the shelter, which was closed for an unknown reason. "The danger siren sounded. My wife took our daughter and they ran to the entrance," said one resident of Kyiv. "There were maybe five to ten women with children there. No one opened the door for them. They were banging loudly". "They tried to enter the shelter, no one opened the door for them. My wife was killed," he told Reuters.
The case sparked public outrage and calls for residents to check shelters and report safety violations. Local media announced that prosecutors searched the offices of the city administration yesterday as part of the investigation.
At a press conference in Moldova, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has clashed with Kyiv city authorities during the war, threatened a fierce response but declined to name the official or officials he held responsible.
"As if it is not enough that we have a Russian enemy, you can see that we also have an internal one," he said. He said the answer would be a "knockout" punch in a comment apparently directed at Klitschko, who was once the heavyweight boxing champion.
At the place where a makeshift memorial to the victim girl was erected, one mother spoke to Reuters about the trauma they experienced during the attack.
"I grabbed my child and ran into the corridor because I had no other choice. We sat there the whole time, there were more explosions," said 25-year-old Oleksandra, holding her five-year-old son Hryhori. "My child is scared, he was sitting in the corner of the corridor. He was crying saying that we are all going to die. I was horrified when I heard that from him. It was horrible".
Russia denies targeting civilians or committing war crimes, although its attacks have wreaked havoc in cities across Ukraine since the invasion began in February last year.
Ukraine reported no major damage from yesterday's attacks on Kiev, saying it shot down all 10 missiles fired. However, in a statement on International Children's Day, UN human rights monitors in Ukraine announced that 525 children had been killed since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
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