A Ukrainian man has described the horrific moment his wife and two sons were shot dead in front of him by Russian troops as his family tried to flee to safety.
Laying in his hospital bed, Oleksandr Chekmariov was still recovering from his own injuries as he recounted the tragic moment.
He described how his family were trying to evacuate the ongoing invasion, running for their lives as they drove from their homes in Bucha, the site of a horrific massacre.
However, he, his wife Margarita and their kids Matvei, ten, and Klim, five, were spotted by a Russian armoured vehicle who stopped them.
It was then he claims that Russia opened fire on the family, killing his wife and two sons, five and ten, instantly.
Talking from his hospital bed, he said: “I was in a car evacuating my family. A Russian armoured vehicle spotted us.
“I stopped. They started shooting without asking questions. My wife and two sons (aged five and 10) were dead instantly. I managed to escape.”
At one point he begins crying as he lay on his hospital bed, unable to keep talking.
His left foot is missing and heavily bandaged, but it is not known if this was caused by the Russian attack which killed his family.
In the video, pictures of his family appear on screen.
First his five and ten-year-old son each holding a cat, and then of his wife as well.
Another image pops up showing the dad and his two kids playing on the floor in their apartment.
This tragedy has been revealed as the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its 50th day of fighting since it began on February 24.
In the time since, millions have been displaced from their homes and tens of thousands killed.
Russia has suffered significantly heavier losses than Ukraine, with some estimating Moscow has lost as many as 20,000 troops.
Despite early efforts to seize and control Ukrainian cities and urban centres, Vladimir Putin ’s forces quickly changed their tactics to bombing civilians.
This led to countless more families fleeing their homes and running for their lives as peace talks seemingly made little progress.
As of April 12, over 4.6million Ukrainians, mostly women, children and the elderly, had fled their homes, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
The majority of these fled into neighbouring Poland, but nearly half a million fled into Russia itself while Moldova, with only a population of 2.6million, has already accepted 415,850 refugees.
As the nearly unprecedented humanitarian crisis continues, the UK government came under fire for its response to the influx of refugees.
One Tory MP even suggested that those fleeing war could apply for fruit-picking visas as seasonal workers to get into the UK.
Since then the government opened up two separate schemes for refugees fleeing the war.
As of April 7 they had received 79,800 visa applications and had issued just over 40,000 visas, the vast majority through the Ukraine Family Scheme.
Despite that, so far, only 12,000 refugees have arrived in the UK.
