Young volunteers helping starving animals near Kyiv killed by Russia soldiers, claim loved ones

Kyiv: As per Ukrainian media reports three volunteers out on streets near the capital city were killed while they were trying to feed thousands of strays worst hit by the sudden Russian attack that have now lasted a fortnight.

An SUV drove through the streets of Bucha, formerly a cozy green town near Kyiv, that have turned into a hotspot of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Three people were in the car: Serhiy Ustymenko, 25, a co-founder of a car repair shop, Maxym Kuzmenko, 28, a hookah server, and Anastasia Yalanskaya, 26, a lead recruiter at an IT company.

Bucha has largely come under Russian control but the three young Ukrainians were on an important mission. They were delivering dog food to dog shelters on March 4.

As they ran back and forth picking supplies as those ran out quickly, they were headed to Ustymenko's parents. They had almost reached the house, when there was a deafening sound.

A Russian vehicle – witnesses identified it as either a tank or an infantry fighting vehicle – opened fire on the car. When the shooting stopped, Valeriy Ustymenko, the father of Serhiy, ran to the car.

Everyone inside was already dead. He dragged out the three bodies and took them to his basement, where he has been hiding from the constant shelling, like most people in Bucha.

Three days later, the bodies are still there. Due to shelling, they can't be buried. Their friends and families can't say goodbye to their loved ones.

Ustymenko's father is still in the basement, with the bodies of his son and his son's two friends, kyivindependent reported.

There was no way that Russians didn't know they were shooting at civilians, the victims' friends said. “The car was (obviously) civilian,” said Dmytro Zubkov, a friend of Maxym Kuzmenko. “Maxym was wearing a hat with a pom pom. They didn't look like the military at all.”

This is just one of many tragedies that have struck humanity since Vladimir Putin opened an attack on Ukraine on February 24. (UNI)