Service members of pro-Russian troops fire from a tank during fighting in Ukraine-Russia conflict near the Azovstal steel plant in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 5, 2022. Picture taken May 5, 2022.
Service members of pro-Russian troops fire from a tank during fighting in Ukraine-Russia conflict near the Azovstal steel plant in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 5, 2022. Picture taken May 5, 2022. Reuters / ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO

KEY POINTS

  • Residents of the occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol were attempting to escape to Ukrainian-controlled territory at the time
  • Russian forces allegedly opened fire on the convoy to prevent them from leaving Russian-occupied areas
  • There were no casualties in the incident

Russian forces opened fire on civilians attempting to flee the occupied areas of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian officials said.

Russian forces initially allowed "a large number of cars" to pass through a checkpoint in the captured city of Vasylivka Monday, the mayor of neighboring Melitopol Ivan Fedorov said during a newscast, according to Pravda.

Residents from Melitopol were escaping from Vasylivka to Ukrainian-controlled areas at the time, he said.

However, Russian forces later shot at a convoy of civilians to prevent them from leaving the Russian-occupied territories in Zaporizhzhia, according to Fedorov.

"In the 'gray zone,' [Russian forces] opened fire on the convoy of our civilians. There were blasts some 50 to 100 meters (164 to 329 feet) away from the cars, and people were forced to get out of the cars and hide under them," the official was quoted as saying by Pravda.

There were no casualties in the incident, according to Fedorov.

Russia has repeatedly been accused of targeting evacuees and civilians in its invasion of Ukraine but has dismissed these allegations.

In one incident, a Russian missile strike that hit a railway station packed with women, children and elderly evacuees in the city of Kramatorsk in April killed 60 civilians, including seven children, and wounded another 110, according to a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"Lacking the strength and courage to stand up to us on the battlefield, [the Russians] are cynically destroying the civilian population. This is an evil that has no limits. And if it is not punished, it will never stop," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the time in response to the attack.

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Russian state media and pro-Russian channels on the online messenger service Telegram initially claimed successful Russian airstrikes on a military target in Kramatorsk, but the earlier reports were redacted, and the Russian government denied responsibility for the attack after it was revealed that the missiles had killed civilians.

Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, intentionally directing attacks against civilians during armed conflicts is considered a war crime.

A woman holds a child inside an evacuee bus as people flee from Mariupol and Melitopol amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, at a collecting point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine April 1, 2022. Picture taken April 1, 2022.
A woman holds a child inside an evacuee bus as people flee from Mariupol and Melitopol amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, at a collecting point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine April 1, 2022. Picture taken April 1, 2022. Reuters / STRINGER