'Putin is targeting Ukraine's children'

Zelensky slams Russia after 12 die in strike on flats

- Mark Reynolds

VOLODYMYR Zelensky has accused Vladimir Putin of making Ukrainian children "military targets" after the weekend attack on a residential apartment block that killed at least 12 civilians.

Five youngsters, including two babies and a toddler, were among those confirmed dead in the strike, by an Iranian-made Shahed drone, on the Black Sea port of Odesa.

Grieving Ukrainians placed hundreds of toys yesterday on a shrine to the slain in one of the most heartbreaking attacks of the two-year war.

Furious President Mr Zelensky said: "Ukrainian children are Russia's military targets." Kyiv's prosecutor-general Andriy Kostin claimed the forces of Putin, below, specifically marked out the nine-storey building, resulting in 18 homes being destroyed.

He added: "This is not just shelling, this is a policy aimed at terror and destruction of Ukrainians.