Parents in tears after their 18-month-old baby is killed in a Russian shell attack
An 18-month-old boy, Kirill, was rushed to the hospital after receiving injuries following a Russian shell attack in Mariupol, Ukraine.
Marina Yatsko, and her boyfriend, Fedor, rushed Kirill to the hospital Friday, March 4 and medical workers frantically tried to save the boy’s life but he didn’t survive.
Video footage shared by Sky News, captures the mother, Marina, and boyfriend Fedor rushing into a hospital with the unconscious child.
Doctors put an oxygen mask over Kirill’s face and massage his chest as his heart appears to have stopped and a defibrillator is deployed.
But he cannot be saved, and a doctor sits on his haunches at the side of the room, looking down at the floor, trying to process what he has just witnessed.
Outside, in the corridor, Marina is inconsolable. She stands up, cries “why, why, why”, and turns to her boyfriend who, seeing she is not steady on her feet, takes her in his arms and holds her up as she cries on his shoulder.
Marina and Fedor go in to see Kirill, whose body is wrapped in a blanket.
His mother unfolds the blanket, gently touches her dead son’s cheek, and kisses him, before pulling the cover back over his face.
Conditions in the hospital are bleak, the staff there say, as the Russian attack on the encircled city continues.
“We continue working without electricity, weather, and heat,” said Dr. Evgeniy Dubrov.
“We’ve worked more than a week without a break.”
On Saturday, March 5, Ukrainian officials accused Russia of shelling the city and civilian corridors, despite Russia’s own agreement to hold fire. The US also said it had noticed a shift in Russian strategy with increasing attacks on civilians and residential areas.
