Ukrainian woman seriously wounded while sheltering her baby from shrapnel blasts in Kyiv

Olga says a blanket wrapped around the baby protected the child from shrapnel

A 27-year-old Ukrainian woman has described the moment a missile strike hit near her home in Kyiv almost killing her six-week-old baby who she managed to shield from shrapnel.

Olga, who did not disclose her last name, said she had just woken up to feed baby Victoria and had covered her with a blanket when the missile struck.

She said she thought her baby had been hit when she first saw blood gushing out.

“I was wounded in the head, and blood started flowing. And it all flowed on the baby,” she told Reuters.

“I couldn’t understand, I thought it was her blood.”

As she started screaming that her baby had been struck, Dmytro, the baby’s father said: “Olga, it’s your blood, it’s not hers.”

She said the blanket had protected her child from the shrapnel.

“And that’s what kept the baby alive. I just got her covered in time. And then Dmytro jumped up and covered us, too,” she said.

On 24 February, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced the invasion of Ukraine to “demilitarise” and “de-Naizify” the country and warned against western interference.

The UN estimates around 10 million people, a quarter of Ukraine’s population, have either fled, been internally displaced or have become refugees abroad, ever since Russian troops first entered the country.

The UN’s refugee agency, said on Sunday that 3,389,044 Ukrainians had fled across the country's borders since Russia invaded.

Ninety per cent of them were women and children.

In addition, the UN’s latest estimates also suggest that around 6.5 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced since the fighting began.

This map shows the extent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as of 18 March (Press Association Images)

The war has also killed at least 847 civilians and wounded 1,399 as of Friday, according to the organisation.

The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office has also claimed 112 children have been killed in the violence.

With the one-month anniversary of the Russian invasion looming this week, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned of a “third world war” if talks with Russia fail to achieve peace.

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