NEW DELHI — Ukrainian envoy to India Igor Polikha on Monday claimed that 16 children have been killed so far due to “explosions, bombings, and shelling” by Russian forces.

The Ukrainian envoy said: “We are suffering a lot of civilian casualties. According to official information of our Ministry, already 16 children have been killed in bombings, shelling as a result of Russian peace-fighting operation”.

The biggest transport plane Mriya was destroyed by the Russian forces. It is very difficult to rebuild this kind of plane, he added further while addressing the media.

While requesting foreign partners to exert pressure on the Russian President to stop the war, Polikha said that air space of Europe was closed for the Russian airplanes. The Russian economy is going down every day. Russia is having absolutely unprecedented casualties. Approximately 5,300 Russian soldiers have lost their lives in the ongoing tussle, he claimed.

“Today, our delegation went to hold the first round of peace talks. Continuous shelling, bombing took place even during the peace talks”, said Igor Polikha.

He said that the number of Ukrainian refugees has exceeded 4 lakh. If the war is not stopped, the number can reach up to 7 million. There are long queues on the border. Lakhs of Ukrainians are standing in queues, trying to cross the border, said the Ukrainian ambassador.

He also said that he has the same information which Indian officials have on the question of the evacuation of students, adding that he is in regular contact with them there. — IANS