The Russian military opened fire on civilians trying to evacuate the town of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region, killing a woman while she was being pushed in a wheelchair by her husband, Ukrainian prosecutors said Tuesday.
Another civilian was also killed during the shooting, which took place on May 15, the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office said, as intense battles between Ukrainian and Russian forces for control of the border town continue. Russia has ramped up its offensive in the Kharkiv region in recent weeks, launching its most surprising operation in more than two years of war on May 10, when Russian forces crossed the border and subsequently took control of close to a dozen villages.
“The wheelchair got stuck, I was pulling it by the handles,” he told prosecutors. “I leaned down and there was a machine gun burst,” he said. “I immediately shouted, what are you doing, we are civilians.” Then he said he turned around and saw that his wife and the other resident were killed. He started screaming and didn’t know how to proceed. He started pushing the wheelchair towards the hospital where he knew there were emergency personnel.
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