Ukrainian girl, 7, killed by ‘cluster bomb’ on school as grandfather tried to protect her from blast

A seven-year-old girl killed in a Russian ‘cluster bomb’ attack on a preschool in Ukraine is said to have died as her grandfather tried to shield her from harm.

Alisa Hlans, from Okhtyrka in Sumy Oblast, is among several child victims of the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov released new estimates of casualties and damage from the war on Tuesday, saying Russian military actions had killed 38 children and wounded more than 70.

Mr Reznikov said Russian strikes had destroyed more than 200 Ukrainian schools as well as 34 hospitals and 1,500 residential buildings.

Olena Zelensky, wife of the Ukrainian president, said Russia was killing children “consciously and cynically”.

In an Instagram post she listed several children who had been killed, including “18-month-old Kirill from Mariupol”, “Sofia, six years old” and “Arseniy, 14 years old”.

She also mentioned Alisa, saying: “She wasn't older than 8 years. She died during the shelling along with her grandfather, who tried to protect her with his own body.”

Two other people were killed and a child injured in the 25 February attack on the Sonechko preschool in Okhtyrka that killed Alisa.

Amnesty International said the cluster bombing of the school may constitute a war crime.

A man recalled the attack to a contact working with the NGO: “While I was walking down [with] my wife, there were immediate explosions.

“You see, everyone is covered with blood, everything. Look at it…[expletive], it kills me the fact it’s a kindergarten. What’s this they shoot at? At military objects? Where are those?”

The cluster attack hit seven points on or near the building according to Amnesty. Four were on the roof.

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed Russia had used cluster bombs in its assault on Ukraine.

“We have seen the use of cluster bombs and we have seen reports of use of other types of weapons which would be in violation of international law,” he said last week.

Sumy Oblast, a northeastern Ukrainian province home to its namesake city and Okhtyrka, has been a focal point of the Russian assault in recent days.

Regional leader Dmytro Zhivitsky said bombs fell on residential buildings in the two cities and destroyed a power plant. He said there were dead and wounded but gave no figures.

Evacuees have left the city of Sumy through a “humanitarian corridor” created under a temporary ceasefire agreement with Russia on Tuesday, Ukraine’s deputy presidential chief of staff Kyrylo Tymoshenko said.

Earlier on Tuesday, regional authorities said the ceasefire had mostly held, allowing a first wave of evacuation of civilians including 1,000 foreign students.

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