Russia hits Kharkiv with Shahed drones: parents and three children burned alive

This was reported by the Head of the Investigation Department of the Kharkiv Regional Police Serhiy Bolvinov.

"Unfortunately. It is impossible to identify the body of the baby in place. The burning temperature was such that the bones and body of the baby turned almost into ashes," he wrote.

According to him, a forensic medical expert is working at the scene. The remains of the bodies will be collected and taken to the morgue for examination.

Investigators assume that the mother was holding the children, hugging them and pressing them to her chest.

Bolvinov later said that investigators had found all the bodies.

"The family was burned alive. The eldest, Lyosha, was seven years old, the middle son, Mykhailo, was four years old, and the youngest, Pavel, was ten months old," he said.

According to him, during the alarms, the parents and children hid in the basement, but this time flames burst into the yard. When the family ran to hide, two cars and fuel were already burning near the house.

"All seven were trapped in the fire. It was preliminarily established that the eldest and youngest boys were with their mother. The middle one, Mykhailo, was always running after his father. The man probably lost consciousness first, and the little one hid in a corner, alone in the kitchen. That's where we found him. The mother and her two other sons tried to escape in the bathroom, holding the children in their arms," the investigator said, adding that the whole family was badly burned and that DNA testing would be needed to draw final conclusions.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko, later informed that the mother of the deceased had been found. 

"She lost her son, daughter-in-law and three young grandchildren. The woman has been at the scene of the tragedy since this morning and has already taken a DNA test. This is important because it is the only way we will be able to say for sure whose bodies were taken out of the house. All of them are badly burnt," the statement said.

According to the minister, investigators have already found the 35-year-old woman's brother.

"This is a terrible blow for the relatives, and the brother also donated his samples to help with accurate identification.  DNA was also taken from the son of the deceased couple. The bodies will be identified using the ANDE DNA machine and molecular genetic expertise," Klymenko added.

He noted that relatives of the deceased family said that they saw later that the family had been in touch almost all the time between the first and second explosions. Both the husband and wife tried to contact someone, but then the connection with them disappeared.

• On the evening of Friday, 9 February, Russia attacked Ukraine with Shahed drones. The drones were flying towards Odesa, as well as Kharkiv and Mykolaiv. Four people were injured when they hit the port infrastructure of Odesa, and 7 people, including three children, were killed in the Russian attack in Kharkiv.