Russian tank ‘opens fire on elderly care home killing 56 & taking 15 hostage’ in ‘cynical & deliberate’ attack

RUSSIAN troops have reportedly shelled an old people’s home in Ukraine, killing 56 people.

A tank allegedly fired at the residential home in what Ukrainian authorities branded a “cynical” and “deliberate” attack.

Telegram

56 people have died after Russian forces allegedly shelled an old people’s home in Ukraine[/caption]

Getty

The reported attack took place in the city of Kreminna, in the eastern province of Luhansk[/caption]

The shocking incident is said to have taken place in the small city of Kreminna in the breakaway pro-Russian region of Luhansk.

Some 15 survivors were then reportedly abducted by Russian troops and taken to the nearby city of Svatove, some 25 miles north, in territory occupied by forces loyal to Vladimir Putin.

The attack allegedly took place on March 11 but is only being reported on now as Ukrainian authorities have been unable to reach the nursing home.

If true, it would certainly be classed as a war crime by Russian forces.

Ukraine’s claims have not been independently verified but were tweeted out by Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications.

In a statement, it said: “56 people were killed in Kreminna, Luhansk Oblast – the occupiers shot from a tank (a) home for the elderly.

“Russians fired at it. Cynically and deliberately. They adjusted the tank, put it in front of the house, and started firing.”

The statement went on: “Those who lived to their old age in the house – 56 people – died on the spot. The survivors, 15 people, were abducted by the occupiers and taken to the occupied territory in Svatove to the regional geriatric boarding school.”

In a separate statement on the messaging app Telegram, Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, said: “It is still impossible to get to the site of the tragedy.”

The statement was also shared by Olexander Scherba, Ukraine’s former ambassador to Austria.

“Absolute horror in Kreminna near Luhansk,” he tweeted. “On March 11, (a) Russian tank approached the local senior home and fired multiple shots. 56 civilians dead – Luhansk governor.”

Russia has continually denied Western claims its forces are deliberately targetting civilians.

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It comes as…

• A heroic Ukrainian mum saved her baby’s life by shielding it from Russian shrapenl
• Video captured the moment a two-year-old girl was pulled from rubble in Kharkiv
• A Ukrainian journalist reportedly kidnapped by Russian spies near Mariupol is still missing
• The bodies of Russian soldiers are being ‘sneaked back to Russia at night to hide the true death toll’
• A teen Queen’s Guard has been arrested by military police after going AWOL to fight Russia

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It comes as Russian forces allegedly bombed a school in Mariupol where up to 400 civilians were sheltering from shelling.

A number of women and children are still said to be trapped under the rubble following the attack overnight.

It currently remains unknown if there are any casualties.

The strategically-crucial southern port city has witnessed some of the heaviest fighting of the war so far.

They adjusted the tank, put it in front of the house, and started firing

Ukraine's State Service of Special Communications

This week, Putin’s troops bombed a theatre in Mariupol being used as a shelter by around 1,200 people.

Around 130 people were rescued but true casualty numbers are not yet known.

Satellite images showed the word “children” written in large white letters in Russian outside the front and back of the building, the Maxar space technology company said.

In a statement, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said: “The theatre building served as a shelter for hundreds of Mariupol residents who had lost their homes as a result of Russian armed forces bombing and shelling the city.

“The bomb strike demolished the central part of the theatre building, causing large numbers of people to be buried under the debris.

“An assessment of the exact number of persons affected is currently impossible due to ongoing shelling.

“By delivering a purposeful bomb attack to the place of mass gathering of civilians Russia has committed another war crime.

“Putin’s regime has long since crossed the line of humanity.”

Reuters

Ukraine claims the tank attack was ‘cynical and deliberate’[/caption]

Pictures showed a pile of rubble with twisted metal and smoke rising from the ruins while videos showed blood-soaked victims being rushed to hospital – and numerous bodies in the basement of the theatre.

The Mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, said that efforts to rescue hundreds of people trapped in the basement of a bombed theatre in the city have been hampered.

About 300,000 people are trapped in the city, as food, water, and medical supplies run out and Russia blocks the entry of humanitarian aid.

“[There is] street fighting in the city centre,” Mr Boychenko said, confirming a claim made by Russia on Friday when it said it was “tightening the noose” around the city.

“There are tanks… and artillery shelling, and all kinds of weapons fired in the area,” the mayor said.

“Our forces are doing everything they can to hold their positions in the city but the forces of the enemy are larger than ours, unfortunately.”

City authorities also claimed that some residents of Mariupol were being forcibly taken to Russia and stripped of their Ukrainian passports.

“The occupiers are sending the residents of Mariupol to filtration camps, checking their phones and seizing (their) Ukrainian documents,” Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional administration said, adding that more than 1,000 Mariupol residents had been deported.

“I appeal to the international community: put pressure on Russia and its madman of a leader,” he said on Facebook.