Dad’s agony as wife, two kids & dog are slaughtered in merciless Russian shelling in photo that shocked world
A DAD has paid a heartbreaking tribute to his wife, two children and dog who were killed by Russian shelling as they desperately fled Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
Sergii Perebeinis, from Irpin, emotionally pleaded “forgive me” as he shared pictures of his wife Tatiana, 43, son Nikita, 18, and little girl Alise, nine.
The are family are believed to be the people who were pictured lying dead on a roadside in the besieged city of Irpin – some 15 miles from Kyiv.
They were hit by Russian shelling as they fled along an evacuation corridor with their belongings and a green pet carrier containing their two dogs.
And in some of the most horrific images of the war so far, they were seen being tended to by Ukrainian soldiers surrounded by their hastily packed suitcases.
The heartbreaking images were shared around the world as they dominated the headlines.
Sergeii paid tribute to his family on Facebook, lamenting simply that the Russians “took them all”.
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He said: “Tania couldn’t make it. What is this all for? What’s next?”
“I’m on my way, I must see you one last time. Forgive me, I didn’t cover you.”
Sergeii is believed not to have been with the family when they came under attack while fleeing with hundreds of other refugees.
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He also later confirmed his pet dog had also been killed in the shelling after attempting to find the missing pooch using Facebook.
The dad pleaded with users to help, saying the pups had been in a distinctive green pet carrier – just as seen in the awful images.
The dad discovered his dog had been badly hurt and had been taken to a vet – being left with an amputated back leg.
It comes as:
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed the ‘kill ever b*****d’ who was shooting and shelling Ukrainian civilians
- Zelenskyy is due to address British MPs today from his bunker as he remains defiant in Kyiv
- Peace talks continue after Russian issued three demands in an ultimatum – which were rejected by Ukraine
- Vladimir Putin has lost yet another general as his troops are reported to have been deserting from the invasion force
- Pictures show abandoned ‘Z’ tanks and burning Russian trucks as the Russia’s costly, grinding advance continues
- Civilians are facing a perilous journey to escape Ukraine – including one boy, 11, who travelled 750 miles on his own
- Brit ex-soldiers are heading to the frontline as they vow to help fight back against Russia
“My good friend flew to them now. I found him, he was waiting for me,” Sergei said.
“Eleven years of emotions you gave us, there was hope that at least someone would stay.”
The family’s other dog – also a little Yorkshire terrier – remains missing amid the bloodshed.
And another pal of the family shared the post saying, Tatiana had an “incredible soul” and she siwhed “eternal memory to [her] and her children”.
Sergeii also shared a tribute to Tatiana posted by the tech company where she worked, SE Ranking.
“There are no words to describe our grief or to mend our pain. But for us, it is crucial to not let Tania and her kids Alise and Nikita remain just statistics,” the firm said in a statement.
“Her family became the victim of the unprovoked fire on civilians, which under any law is a crime against humanity.
“The Russian army are criminals, and they should be stopped.
“Our hearts are broken. Our prayers are for all Ukrainians, who are fighting for their right to exist.”
Ukrainian businessman Mikita Mikado also paid tribute to Tatiana and her kids.
“We were connected by the fact that I am an investor in this startup,” he said.
“Unfortunately, her family could not leave Irpin earlier because of her sick mother.
“Tatiana and her children can no longer be returned. But you can also prevent the death of other people.”
The United Nations estimates Putin’s twisted war has already left more than one million people fleeing with Ukraine.
And this figure is expected to rise to seven million before the conflict is over – some 15 per cent of the entire 44million population of Ukraine.
Russia is peppering entire cities with shells, rockets, missiles and air strikes – seemingly indiscriminately bombing civilians.
It took less than two weeks for the ruthless Russian regime to be accused of war crimes.
Putin denies that Russia has been bombing civilians.
Thousands of families – just like the Perebeinis’ – have seen their lives torn apart, going from a normal existence just weeks ago to now losing everything – in some cases their lives.
And few images illustrated this more harrowingly than the pictures from Irpin.
Photographer and journalist Andriy Dubchak, who captured the moment the shell hit on video, confirmed the victims on Facebook.
He said: “[The family] themselves are from Donetsk. Escaped the war back in 2014.
“Thought Irpin was a safe place. But the Russian army found them here too.”
Lynsey Addario, the photojournalist who took the pictures, decried the killing of the family as a “war crime”.
The veteran war correspondent told CBS amount the moment the bombardment struck.
“Within minutes, a series of mortars fell increasingly closer and closer to our position until one landed about 30 feet from where I was standing and it killed a mother and her two children,” she said.
“I’m a mother, and I when I’m working, I try to stay very focused. I try to keep, sort of, the camera to my eye.
“But of course, it was very emotional. First of all, I had just been sprayed with gravel from a mortar round that could have killed us very easily.
“So I was shaken up, and when we were told that we could run across the street by our security adviser, I ran and I saw this family splayed out and I saw these little moon boots and puffy coat.”
And today it was warned by UK defence secretary Ben Wallace that an increasingly frustrated Russia is likely to “double down” on its brutal campaign.
“It is getting more desperate, which is why we see huge amounts of indiscriminate shelling,” he said.
Russia’s invasion has stalled as Putin is thought to have believed he could have rolled over the country in 48 hours.
His soldiers expected to be welcomed with flowers as liberators, but instead they were met with molotov cocktails and AK-47s.
Moscow is believed to have suffered staggering losses – with as many as 12,000 troops killed and thousands of vehicles destroyed.
Pictures show Ukraine is now littered with the burnt out remains of Russian military convoys as they come under attack from all sides.
Western nations have also imposed biting new sanctions on Russia, pushing mad tyrant Putin’s regime towards total economic collapse.
Despite this however – the advance is grinding forward at a slow pace towards the capital Kyiv.
Kyiv is believed to be Putin’s main objective, where they will kill President Zelenskyy and install a puppet government which would be pro-Russia.
Peace talks continue – but the Kremlin has issued a list demands that Zelenskyy will never be able to accept.
The war continues on, soon entering its third week, and the only thing guaranteed is more death and destruction.