Kyiv residents have described living in fear of Russian saboteurs who are infiltrating bomb shelters and hiding weapons in children’s toys.
Shocking footage shared by the National Police of Ukraine shows over a dozen bullets being pulled out of a teddy bear at a metro station in the capital city.
Officers made the discovery after five men were arrested for acting suspiciously in a subway where residents were seeking cover from Russian bombing.
During a thorough search of the items, police found a toy on one of the saboteurs, in which ammunition was hidden. His friend, a Belarusian citizen, also had ammunition with him, according to local media.
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Kyiv resident Karolina Stolozh, 21, said saboteurs are hiding the weapons in toys ‘so they can shoot people in shelters’.
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She told Metro.co.uk: ‘We use our metro as a shelter, there are a lot of people hiding there with kids. There are a lot of Russian saboteurs here who came a couple of weeks before the war, and they do crazy stuff like this.’
Officials in Sumy, northern Ukraine, have also claimed that Russian sabotage groups are hiding weapons in toys, mobile phones and other valuable objects. The military administration warned residents on Facebook not to touch valuable objects lying around and to report anything suspicious.
Karolina, who was been hiding from bombs in an underground car park with her mother, said: ‘It’s really dangerous to hide in the bomb shelters because saboteurs change from their Russian military uniform into the Ukrainian uniform and try to sneak into the shelter with a gun in order to scare people.
‘We have people on duty who stay near the door all night and check everyone who is trying to go inside our shelter.
‘There are also a lot of cases when Russians stop cars in order to steal them from civil citizens and they just kill them, with kids and animals.’
There was international outrage over the case of Polina, a ten-year-old girl killed when her family car came under fire from a Russian sabotage group in Kyiv.
Her brother, five-year-old Semyon, is said to be fighting for life after he was rushed to hospital alongside elder sister Sofia when the vehicle was hit by a hail of bullets as they tried to flee the city on Saturday.
Parents Anton Kudrin and Svetlana Zapadynskaya, who were both vets, died instantly alongside middle daughter Polina.
Karolina said this was not an isolated incident and there had been similar reports on Ukrainian social media.
In one Instagram post, which Metro.co.uk has not been able to verify, a woman claims her friend’s family was shot at on the Zhytomyr highway, killing a young mother and severely wounding her two children.
Karolina said: ‘Seeing those [posts] breaks my heart, because a lot of innocent people are dying everyday.’
Authorities in Kyiv have introduced a curfew from 8pm to 7am to protect citzens from Russian shelling and sabotage groups.
But even during the day Karolina said she does not got outside because it’s too dangerous.
A chilling video taken by her neighbour shows what she believes is a saboteur scaling the walls of her building in an attempt to break in.
Describing daily life in her besieged city she said: ‘We are so tired of this. We come back home after the night in shelter at around 5-6 am and [try to] get more sleep at home.
‘We sleep on the floor in case of the explosions if windows blow up and with clothes on in case of an emergency to get ready faster and run away.
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‘We don’t turn on the light in the apartment because saboteurs look in the windows to see if someone is at home. They try to sneak into the apartments to steal stuff.
‘We don’t go outside, its really dangerous because of the Russian saboteurs and we have a curfew from 8pm to 7am.’
Karolina said she is surviving off the kindness of volunteers who have been risking their lives to give free water, bread, food and medicine to people hiding in shelters.
There have been reports of food shortages in many areas under siege, with Kyiv’s ambassador to the UK warning this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be seeking to starve cities to crush Ukraine’s resolve.
The mayor of Mariupol – a strategic southern port city – says Russian troops have cut off electricity, water, food and heating.
And the Mayor of Kherson, which Moscow claims to have captured, warned yesterday that ‘people will perish’ without humanitarian corridors for food and medicine to be delivered safely.
A spokesperson for the International Red Cross, Matthew Morris, told Metro.co.uk that the humanitarian needs of the people ‘are huge and getting worse everyday’.
He said: ‘There are gas and water shortages across the country. Supply pipelines are blocked.
‘We are seeing a big need for insulin. We are preparing supplies and hope to be able to fill these needs.
‘The situation in Mariupol is deteriorating. We are preparing additional medical supplies to send to Kyiv as security allows.
‘We are receiving a flood of calls from people desperate for safety. People are sheltering underground, often for hours on end, and are not able to go outside for fear of shelling.
‘Many Ukrainians have no water, electricity, and minimal phone connectivity. Food and necessities are hard to find.
‘We have heard from people who were wounded and are looking for assistance, including people who feel in great psychological distress.’
The ICRC called for parties to the conflict to ‘fulfil their legal obligations and uphold international humanitarian law’.
‘The parties must spare the civilian population from military operations and should immediately allow safe passage for people fleeing the fighting,’ he said.
‘Additionally, humanitarian organizations must be able to safely bring in clean water, food and medical care, and to reunite separated families. Parties must facilitate humanitarian work.’
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The UN estimates that one million people have fled Ukraine for neighbouring countries already.
But it is thought the war could create up to four million refugees as the crisis intensifies.
Vladimir Putin told French President Emanuel Macron today that the ‘worst is yet to come’ and he wants to control all of Ukraine. The Russian leader has ramped up aggression after reportedly being left furious by slow progress thanks to Ukraine’s fierce resistance.
Ukrainian forces are currently battling Russian troops for control of Enerhodar – the home of Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
Residents in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol have also desperately tried to survive a barrage of Russian shelling today.
And unverified footage is said to show the world’s biggest plane on fire after Russian forces attacked Kyiv for a seventh day.
The West is expected to announce more sanctions this week after Russia’s credit rating was downgraded to junk – though Nato is continuing to rule out a no fly zone.
Meanwhile, an appeal is being launched by the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee to help the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the conflict as well as residents stuck in Ukraine. All public donations will be doubled by the UK government, up to a total of £20m.
Russia-Ukraine war: Everything you need to know
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered its seventh day, with the attacks beginning on February 24.
Since then, Ukraine has suffered widespread damages and loss of life amid Russia’s major bombing campaign.
The majority of attacks have been focused in the capital city of Kyiv, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is currently based.
Russian President Vladamir Putin is prepared to resume talks with Ukraine in bid to end war, according to a Kremlin spokesperson.
- Russia claims to have seized control of its first major Ukrainian city
- Putin tells Macron ‘worst is yet to come’ and he wants to control all of Ukraine
- Footage appears to confirm world’s biggest plane was destroyed in Kyiv fighting
- Putin left with few allies as world condemns Ukraine ‘atrocities’
- Superyachts belonging to close Putin ally and oligarch seized in Europe
- More than one million people have now fled Ukraine after one week of war
- Ukraine says Chechen hit squad sent to kill Zelensky ‘eliminated’
- Cargo ship ‘sunk by mine’ close to Russian Navy
- Russia attempts to take Europe’s biggest nuclear plant after Ukrainians block it
- WWE terminates Russian broadcasting partnerships in wake of invasion
- Where in London to donate clothes, food and toiletries for Ukraine
- Netflix pauses all future projects and acquisitions of Russia in response to invasion
Follow Metro.co.uk’s live blog for rolling coverage of conflict as it happens.
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