'In the name of God I ask you: Stop this massacre!' Pope Francis told thousands of worshippers at St Peter's Square on Sunday, alluding to Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian cities, the Roman Catholic pontiff, said risked 'being reduced to cemeteries', adding that the Russian bombing of hospitals and other civilian targets was 'barbaric' and with 'no valid strategic reason'.
Ukrainians from the eastern and central parts of the country have fled to the country's western cities, that have so far been considered safer, as Russian forces advance toward the capital Kyiv from three sides.
Please click on the images for glimpses of the latest devastation in Putin's War.
IMAGE: Firefighters battle to extinguish a fire in a storage facility in Brovary in the Kyiv area which was hit by a Russian rocket at 5 am on Saturday. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Images
IMAGE: A warehouse storing frozen products on fire after shelling in the village of Kvitneve in the Kyiv region. Photograph: Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters
IMAGE: A column of smoke rises from burning fuel tanks that locals said were hit by five Russian rockets at the Vasylkiv air base outside Kyiv. Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters
IMAGE: Ukrainian soldiers stand by a destroyed bridge in the town of Irpin outside Kyiv. Photograph: Marko Djurica/Reuters
IMAGE: Ukrainian soldiers walk near a destroyed bridge in Irpin. Photograph: Marko Djurica/Reuters
IMAGE: Medical workers stand outside a hospital which was destroyed in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
IMAGE: Another glimpse of the destroyed hospital in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
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