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(CNN) --
A Russian military strike hit an evacuation point in a Kyiv suburb on Sunday, killing a family with two children and several other civilians who were trying to flee the Russian invasion, according to the city's mayor. as civilian casualties among those seeking safety in the midst of the onslaught continue to rise.
Two mortar or artillery shells hit the checkpoint in the northwestern Kyiv suburb of Irpin, according to Ukrainian authorities, which has been the scene of heavy shelling by the Russian military in recent days.
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Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn said eight civilians have been killed across the district, and international media filming at the checkpoint reported that a shell landed as a stream of civilians was passing through.
Russia's attack on the evacuation point
"A family has died," Markushyn said in a statement.
"Before my eyes, two small children and two adults died."
A member of the Ukrainian Army gives instructions to women and children boarding an evacuation train in Irpin, Ukraine.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Video from the moment the attack killed a family shows a Ukrainian soldier standing in front of a building on a street.
Suddenly, an explosion is seen and heard on the video.
Debris is heard raining down on the building and the street is hidden by a cloud of dust.
Several journalists are heard reacting to the attack.
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As the scene begins to clear, someone is seen pushing the Ukrainian soldier aside.
Other soldiers cross the street and appear to check the status of several people on the ground.
"Doctor," someone is heard shouting repeatedly.
Associated Press photographs show bodies on the ground covered by sheets, with suitcases upright nearby.
CNN has determined that civilians were killed in the Russian military attack seen in the video.
The Kyiv Regional Military Administration appealed to international organizations to help resolve the growing humanitarian crisis.
"Thousands of people are isolated, due to direct hostilities, and in some places for 5-6 days they survive without electricity, water, food, medical help and livelihood. They are in direct danger," he said.
People board an evacuation train from Kyiv to Lviv at Kyiv's central railway station on March 6.
(Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Sunday that more than 360 civilians had been killed in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, though it acknowledged the true figure may be "considerably higher."
CNN cannot independently verify casualty figures.
The UN also reports that more than 1.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine since February 24.
Evacuation corridors closed
In the country's southeast, hopes that a second attempt to open safe evacuation routes for civilians in Mariupol and Volnovakha might succeed - after a first effort failed on Saturday - faded within hours.
Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Facebook on Sunday that the "planned evacuation convoy with local residents could not leave Mariupol today: the Russians began to regroup their forces and heavily shell the city. It is extremely dangerous." evacuate people in those conditions.
Kyrylenko added that a convoy carrying humanitarian aid from the central city of Zaporizhzhia, three hours from Mariupol, "has not yet reached its destination and is on its way."
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also said Sunday's planned evacuation from Mariupol had failed.
"Today, our team started to open the Mariupol evacuation route before hostilities resumed. We remain in Mariupol and we are ready to help facilitate further attempts, if the parties reach an agreement, which only they must apply and respect." ", the ICRC said on Twitter.
"People in Mariupol and elsewhere in Ukraine are living in desperate situations. They must be protected at all times. They are not a target. People urgently need water, food, shelter. The basics to live. We need security guarantees to be able to bring them help".
Ukrainian lawmaker Inna Sovsun said on Sunday that Russian forces had damaged a gas pipeline in southeastern Ukraine, leaving hundreds of thousands without heat amid frigid temperatures.
"The Donetsk-Mariupol gas pipeline was damaged by the occupiers from Russia. Now, more than 750,000 people have been left without heating, while outside it is still often below 0°C (32 degrees Fahrenheit)," Sovsun said. On twitter.
Meanwhile, television and radio broadcasts have been interrupted in Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, following Russian military attacks, according to the Regional Administration.
In a post on Facebook on Sunday, the Regional Administration said "repeated shelling" of the Kharkiv TV tower has left it without broadcasting capacity.
Russia has fired a total of 600 missiles since the invasion of Ukraine began, a senior US defense official told CNN on Sunday, and has committed about 95% of its accumulated combat power inside Ukraine.
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Early on Sunday, heavy shelling was reported west and northwest of Kyiv.
The impact of the explosions was heard by CNN crews in Kyiv and in rural areas of the southwest.
Members of the Territorial Defense Force – Ukraine's military reserve – prepare to defend Kyiv on February 26.
"They [Russian troops] captured Hostomel and Bucha yesterday [Saturday]. The Russians entered there," said Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, referring to two northwestern suburbs of Kyiv.
"Many children have been injured and are not allowed to be evacuated, despite numerous calls at the highest state level for a 'green corridor' to be set up from Bucha and Irpin. There are many children in the cellars."
Arestovych described the situation as a "catastrophe", adding that discussions were being held "at the highest level with international humanitarian institutions, through mediators with the Russians" to find a way out for those trapped.
Several children have died, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.
Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Sunday that Russia was preparing to bomb the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa, saying the country's western Vynnytsia airport had been destroyed by a rocket attack.
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In a speech posted on Facebook, Zelensky said: "Russians always used to come to Odessa and only knew warmth and generosity, now what? Artillery, bombs against Odessa. This will be a war crime. This will be [a] historical crime.
In another message, Zelensky again called for a no-fly zone to be imposed over Ukraine, following the destruction of the Vynnytsia airport.
"They continue to ruin our infrastructure, our life, the one we have built, and our parents, and grandparents, many generations of Ukrainians. We repeat it every day: close the skies of Ukraine," he added.
US and European officials have discussed how the West would support an exile government led by Zelensky if he had to flee Kyiv, Western officials told CNN.
Discussions have ranged from support for Zelensky and senior Ukrainian officials in a possible move to Lviv in western Ukraine, to the possibility that Zelensky and his aides might be forced to flee Ukraine altogether and set up a new government. in Poland, officials said.
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Western officials have been wary of discussing a government-in-exile directly with Zelensky because Zelensky wants to stay in Kyiv and has so far rejected talks that focus on anything other than boosting Ukraine in its fight against Russia. said two Western diplomats.
Claims for more support
As the Russian invasion continues, Zelensky has reiterated his calls for the United States and NATO to help establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine, a move that could prevent Russian forces from carrying out airstrikes against the country.
But there are fears such a move could be seen as an escalation, with Russian President Vladimir Putin warning on Saturday that he would regard countries imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine as "participants in a military conflict."
Zelensky has repeatedly called on NATO and Western officials to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but both say they oppose such a move.
In an impassioned call to US lawmakers on Saturday, Zelensky also encouraged Eastern European nations to provide Ukraine with fighter jets, stressing that they were needed to defend against Russian aggression.
In the call, Zelensky said that if the West does not impose a no-fly zone, it should give Ukraine planes.
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A White House spokesman confirmed that the United States is working with Poland on the possibility of Warsaw providing fighter jets to Ukraine.
Some officials in the Biden administration privately fear that this move could be seen by the Russians as an escalation, according to US officials.
Meanwhile, a multinational effort to ship weapons to Ukraine is running at full speed at an undisclosed airfield in Eastern Europe, a defense official said.
The US European Command is at the center of the operation, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley met with troops and staff last week to review weapons shipment activity, the official said. .
Since the invasion, 14 countries have sent security assistance to Ukraine, a senior US defense official said on Friday, some of which have rarely sent such important equipment.
Putin claimed on Saturday that Russia had almost completed the destruction of Ukraine's air defense systems, adding that Western sanctions were the "equivalent of a declaration of war."
Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US has seen "very credible reports of deliberate targeting of civilians" in Ukraine that would be considered a war crime.
He added that the United States is working with its allies in Europe to study the possibility of banning Russian oil imports in an effort to further punish the country for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
With information from Mariya Knight, Hira Humayun, Arlette Saenz, Amy Cassidy, Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood, Kaitlan Collins, Oren Liebermann, Kevin Liptak, Barbara Starr, Sharon Braithwaite, Nick Paton Walsh, Nada Bashir, Paul P. Murphy, and Niamh Kennedy .
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