Ukraine war in photos, day seven: Images reveal devastation caused by Putin’s invasion

Thousands are feared dead, and hundreds of thousands are fleeing their homes as the deadly bombardment closes in on Kharkiv and Kyiv

More than 2,000 civilians have died in a week of war with Russia, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service says.

At least 25 people died and at least 121 were injured in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv - a key target - as Russian forces stepped up their lethal bombardment on Wednesday.

Heavy gun battles raged as Ukrainian defence troops fought back, but the Russian military fired a cruise missile into the city council building in the eastern Ukrainian city, according to the deputy governor of the region, Roman Semenukha.

More than 600,000 residents have fled Ukraine, according to the UN, going to neighbouring Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Moldova.

Firefighters battle a fire at the Kharkiv’s regional security service and police (AFP via Getty)

Rescuers working among the rubble of private houses in Zhytomy (Ukraine Emergency Ministry press service/AFP)

Destroyed military vehicles on a street in the town of Bucha in the Kyiv region (Reuters)

Sergyi Badylevych hugs his wife Natalia and son in an underground station in Kyiv (STF/AFP via Getty)

The square outside the damaged city hall of Kharkiv (AFP via Getty)

A civilian trains to throw Molotov cocktails to defend the city in Zhytomyr (Reuters)

Russian air and rocket strikes pounded Kharkiv on Wednesday morning, the emergency services said.

“Kharkiv is a Russian-speaking city. Every fourth person in Kharkiv has relatives in the Russian Federation. But the city’s attitude to Russia today is completely different to what it ever was before,” mayor Ihor Terekhov said in an online video statement.

“We never expected this could happen: total destruction, annihilation, genocide against the Ukrainian people - this is unforgivable.”

A woman carries a child at the border crossing in Siret, Romania (Reuters)

Firefighters extinguishing a fire in the Kharkiv regional police department building (Ukraine Emergency Ministry press service/AFP)

People wait to board a train from Kyiv to Lviv (Reuters)

A destroyed building in a residential area in the city of Zhytomyr (Press service of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service/Reuters)

Prayers in the ancient St Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv (EPA)

Local residents pick up ammunition from a destroyed armoured vehicle, in the town of Bucha, Kyiv region (Reuters)

Civilians train to throw Molotov cocktails in Zhytomyr (Reuters)

Pro-Russian troops in separatist-controlled Donetsk (Reuters)

A destroyed armoured vehicle in Kyiv (Reuters)

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv remained the main target. Residents have been sheltering in metro stations at night, and shops are running out of stock.

The Russian defence ministry has claimed to have captured Kherson, a key port city on the Black Sea coast.

People queue at a Kyiv pharmacy (Reuters)

A woman fleeing the shelling (AP)

Owners of a Kyiv shop inspect the damage (Reuters)

Wreckage in Kyiv (AFP via Getty)

A man stands inside his apartment, which locals said was damaged by recent shelling, in the separatist-controlled town of Yasynuvata in the Donetsk region (Reuters)

A 19 year old Ukrainian soldier named Yevhen lays in bed in a military hospital in Lviv (AFP via Getty)

A convoy of Russian military vehicles, estimated to be 40 miles long, together with an estimated 15,000 troops, is still heading for Kyiv.

“We are preparing and will defend Kyiv!” mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote in an online post“Kyiv stands and will stand.”

Both sides said they were ready to resume talks aimed at stopping the new devastating war in Europe.The first round of talks on Monday resulted in only a promise to meet again.

Local militiamen help an old woman crossing a bridge destroyed by artillery (AP)

A boy sits at an underground metro station used as bomb shelter in Kyiv (STF/AFP via Getty Images)

People remove debris from an apartment building in the town of Yasynuvata (Reuters)

An Ukrainian soldier hugs his partner in Lviv (AFP/Getty)

A deserted suitcase and buggy are left beside the road at a border crossing in Medyka, Poland (AP)

Several people died when an air strike hit Kyiv’s main television tower (AFP via Getty Images)