Sharjah24- AFP: The First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, on Tuesday condemned the Kremlin's "mass murder" of civilians, including children, in an open letter to the global media on the Russian invasion.

In a passionate statement, Zelenska said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine "was impossible to believe.

"On February 24th, we all woke up to the announcement of a Russian invasion," she wrote.

"Tanks crossed the Ukrainian border, planes entered our airspace, missile launchers surrounded our cities.

"Despite assurances from Kremlin-backed propaganda outlets, who call this a 'special operation' -- it is, in fact, the mass murder of Ukrainian civilians."

She singled out the child casualties as "perhaps the most terrifying and devastating", naming several of those killed.

"Eight-year-old Alice... died on the streets of Okhtyrka while her grandfather tried to protect her," she said. "Polina from Kyiv... died in the shelling with her parents."

She added: "14-year-old Arseniy was hit in the head by wreckage, and could not be saved because an ambulance could not get to him on time because of intense fires.

"When Russia says that it is 'not waging war against civilians,' I call out the names of these murdered children first," she said.