Russian Shelling Kills 10 Ukrainian Civilians Lining Up For Bread [Video]

Russian shelling in Ukraine resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen civilians who were trying to get food, Ukrainian officials said.

More than 13 people died while dozens more were injured following "heavy artillery strikes" on a residential neighborhood in Chernihiv, regional police chief Volodymyr Nidzelsky announced in a Facebook post.

One of the Russian shells hit a high-rise building and fell near a shop where people were lining up for bread, said Nidzelsky, who claimed that the shelling was a "war crime."

Police officers evacuated injured residents and took them to medical facilities following the attack.

Investigators in Chernihiv worked at the scene, and they documented the circumstances and consequences of the Russian shelling.

Purported footage of the incident shared by Oleksandr Merezhko, the deputy head of Ukraine's parliament and chair of the country's Foreign Affairs Committee, showed blurred images of what appeared to be dead bodies on the streets of Chernihiv.

"Russians have killed more than ten people who were standing in line to buy some bread," the caption of Merezhko's video read.

Both Merezhko and the United States Embassy in Ukraine claimed that ten people had died from the Russian attack, but the number of fatalities later rose to 13

"Such horrific attacks must stop. We are considering all available options to ensure accountability for any atrocity crimes in Ukraine," the U.S. Embassy in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv said in a statement.

The Chernihiv incident occurred a day before Ukraine accused Russia of bombing a theater that was sheltering more than 1,000 civilians in the besieged city of Mariupol.

Russia has since denied the claims that its forces were responsible for the shelling in Chernihiv and said that the U.S. Embassy had published an "unverified fake," Reuters reported.

"No Russian soldiers are or have been in Chernihiv. All units are outside of the Chernihiv city limits, blocking roads, and are not conducting any offensive action," Russian defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

Meanwhile, the purported footage of the incident that appeared in various Ukrainian outlets was a "hoax launched by the Ukrainian Security Service," according to Konashenkov.

A total of 726 civilians have been killed in Ukraine while 1,174 have been injured from the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24 until Tuesday, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in its most recent casualty report on the Ukraine-Russia war.

The actual figures may be "considerably higher" as the transmission of information in some areas has been delayed, with many reports still pending verification, said the organization.

Russia has insisted that its military forces did not target civilians in the conflict, but the country is now facing accusations of war crimes following its alleged attacks on non-military areas in Ukraine, including densely populated areas, schools and even children's hospitals.