More civilians than soldiers killed in Russia’s war on Ukraine, says Kyiv’s defence minister

‘I want this to be heard not only in Kyiv but all over the world,’ says Oleksii Reznikov

Russia has been branded a ‘terrorist state’ over its attack on Ukraine (AFP via Getty Images)

More civilians than soldiers have been killed by Russia’s war on Ukraine, according to Kyiv’s defence minister

"I want this to be heard not only in Kyiv but all over the world," Oleksii Reznikov said on Friday.

At least 549 civilians had been killed in the conflict, 41 of them children, according to statistics verified by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

But the true figurei is thought to be far higher. In the besieged southern city of Mariupol, the city council said at least 1,582 civilians had been killed as a result of Russian shelling and a 12-day blockade that has left hundreds of thousands trapped with no food, water, heat or power.

Russia’s defence ministry said the Black Sea port was now completely surrounded and Ukrainian officials accused Russia of deliberately preventing civilians getting out and humanitarian convoys getting in.

A new effort to evacuate civilians along a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol appeared to have failed, with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk saying Russian shelling prevented them from leaving.

“The situation is critical,” Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko said.

This map shows the extent of Russia’s war in Ukraine (Press Association Images)

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has accused Russia of being a “terrorist state” and suggested that Moscow was preparing to launch chemical weapons attacks.

Following the bombing of a maternity hospital Mariupol on Wednesday, Russian forces have also been accused of hitting a psychiatric hospital near to the eastern Ukrainian town of Izyum.

The regional governor of Kharkiv announecd that the bombing of the psychiatric hospital was “a war crime against civilians, genocide against the Ukrainian nation.”

Russia denies it is targeting civilians.