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Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee across the Irpin River in the outskirts of Kyiv on Saturday. Photo: AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti.
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Devastating Photos of People Trying to Escape the War in Ukraine

Across a broken landscape, civilians flee for their lives.
Max Daly
London, GB

Over the weekend thousands more Ukrainians attempted to escape major cities as Russian invaders ignored ceasefires, shelled residential areas and attacked families as they fled. 

On Saturday, Associated Press photographer Emilio Morenatti captured a crowd under a destroyed bridge as they made their way across the Irpin River in the outskirts of Kyiv. 

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Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee across the Irpin River in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine on March 5. Photo: AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti.

Two planned ceasefires to help evacuate civilians from Irpin, a city just north west of Kyiv, and in the southern city of Mariupol, both failed and those fleeing across bombed landscapes – including children, the elderly and disabled – were hit with heavy gunfire and missiles. 

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On Sunday Ukraine criticised a plan by Russia to open refugee corridors that led into Belarus and Russia as “immoral”. 

So far the UN estimates 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries. The UN’s latest figures estimate more than 1,000 civilian casualties including 351 confirmed dead.

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A semi-conscious woman is attended to by Ukrainian soldiers after crossing the Irpin river as fleeing the city in the outskirts of Kyiv. Photo: AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti.

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Ukrainian soldiers help a man on a wheelchair as people try to flee crossing the Irpin river in the outskirts of Kyiv. Photo: AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti.

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A woman cries as she hears shelling near Irpin. Photo: Diego Herrera/Europa Press via Getty Images.

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A Ukrainian soldier aids a victim of a mortar attack from Russian forces in Irpin. At least four civilians died in the attack. Photo: Andriy Dubchak/Dia images via Getty Images.

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A woman takes a rest after crossing a destroyed bridge as she evacuates from the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv on Monday. Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images.

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A man carries a woman as they cross an improvised path while fleeing the town of Irpin. Photo: AP Photo/Oleksandr Ratushniak.

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A Ukrainian soldier and a militia man help a fleeing family crossing the Irpin River in the outskirts of Kyiv. Photo: AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti.