Brother of Kyiv schoolgirl Polina killed alongside parents by Russian saboteurs loses fight for life

Five-year-old Semyon was injured when his family’s car was targeted by Russian saboteurs in Kyiv
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The brother of Ukrainian girl Polina who was shot and killed along with her parents by Russian forces has died in hospital.

Semyon, 5, was left critically injured after Russian saboteurs targeted his family’s car as they tried to flee Kyiv.

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His sister Polina, 10, who was in her final year of primary school, was killed on Saturday. She was with her family and two siblings when her family car came under fire.

A schoolgirl called Polina is among those who have been killed after Russia invaded Ukraine.A schoolgirl called Polina is among those who have been killed after Russia invaded Ukraine.
A schoolgirl called Polina is among those who have been killed after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The BBC reported that Kyiv’s local authority said she and her parents were shot dead by a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group on a street in the north-west of the capital.

Semyon was in a critical condition at Okhmatdyt children’s hospital - but tragically died on Wednesday, a relative told the Telegraph.

5-year-old was unaware of deaths of his parents and sister

He was unaware of the deaths of his sister and parents Anton Kudrin, and Svetlana Zapadynskaya.

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Semyon’s older sister Sofia, 13, reportedly remains in critical condition and unconscious after being struck as her family desperately tried to flee the capital.

On Monday the deputy mayor of Kyiv, Volodymyr Bondarenko, had shared a picture of Polina and said: “Her name was Polina. She studied in the 4th grade of school in Kyiv. This morning on Teligi her and her parents were shot by Russian DRG.”

Earlier this week Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 16 children have been killed and another 45 injured during the Russian invasion, adding “every crime, every shelling by the occupiers bring our partners and us even closer”.

Among the children killed last weekend was a six-year-old girl dubbed the girl in the pink unicorn pyjamas.

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She was killed when the Russians shelled her Mariupol apartment block on Sunday.

A boy was killed when a block of flats caught fire after being shelled in Chuhuiv, a small town outside Kharkiv.

War crimes investigation opened

It comes after a war crimes investigation into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been launched after Boris Johnson personally accused Vladimir Putin of committing atrocities over the bombardment of cities.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) opened an investigation on Wednesday night after Britain and 37 allies referred Moscow over what the Prime Minister described as “abhorrent” attacks.

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More than 2,000 civilians are thought to have died since the invasion, Ukraine’s state emergency service said, although that figure has not been independently verified.

The United Nations’ refugee agency believes around 874,000 people have fled Ukraine but that figure is soon expected to reach a million.

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