Timofiy, three, was among 19 killed in a Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih, the home city of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky this week, which also injured another 61
Ukraine: Rescuers attempt to resuscitate young boy after missile strike on Kryvyi Rih
A little boy is among the dead in a vicious missile strike in Ukraine which also injured more than 60 people loved “space rockets”, according to his devastated family.
The Iskander-M missile, a Russian tactical ballistic weapon which can hit targets more than 300 miles away and capable of hypersonic speeds, hit Kryvyi Rih on Friday. At least 19 people died in the tragedy, including six children, on the attack on President Volodymyr Zelensky ’s home city. Among the dead was little Timofiy, aged three, whose body was seen being removed from the wreckage before he later died of his injuries suffered in the attack.
READ MORE: Michelle Keegan is a vision in £60 ‘jacket of the season’ that’s flying off shelves
At the time of the explosion, he and his grandmother were returning home from the playground. His mother said: “Timofiyko [Timofiy] was a very energetic child, he was passionate about space and space rockets,” said his distraught mother as she shared pictures of her beloved child.
“He really loved collecting ladybugs and various beetles.”
The war in Ukraine is now in its fourth year and has cost the lives of around 800,000 Russian troops, with an unknown number of Ukrainians killed. It comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched the Kremlin’s biggest troop call up for more young men to fight on the frontline.
He is so keen to expand militarily he has offered to wipe out debts for many men in exchange for just a year’s service on the Ukraine frontline. With so many losses in Ukraine, Russia is running out of possible recruits, especially since hundreds of thousands fled at the beginning of the war.
The huge expansion comes after he has lost possibly 840,000 men in battle and well over 10,000 tanks, killed and blown up by Ukrainian forces.
Across Europe, governments are debating how to expand or introduce national service to prepare for war and piling extra funds into defence spending.
It comes as the Kremlin ended their lull in deadly drone attacks on Ukraine’s civilians, with a drone onslaught on Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv.
Devastating waves of drones smashed into the city causing multiple explosions, fires and injuries, which included hitting a nine month old baby.
Putin signed a decree authorising the latest phase of the country’s twice-yearly conscription effort, with the new window beginning Tuesday and running until July 15.