Russia has today blown up a disabled care home near the city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials have said, as Vladimir Putin’s troops stoop to a new low just 48 hours after shelling women as they gave birth in a maternity hospital.

Oleg Sinegubov, an official from Kharkiv who has been under siege by Russian forces for days, accused Putin’s men of committing a ‘war crime’ by launching airstrikes against the facility in the town of Oskil which had 330 residents inside at the time the bombs hit.

Sinegubov said 63 care home residents have since been evacuated, but could not give an update on the other 267. Ten of those living at the home require wheelchairs, he said, while another 50 have reduced mobility. Ihor Terekhov, mayor of the city, said another 48 schools have been destroyed by Russian missiles.

Just 48 hours before the care home was destroyed, Russian jets had bombed a maternity hospital in the southern city of Mariupol as women gave birth inside. The Kremlin has sought to paint those wounded in the attack as ‘crisis actors’ as part of a vile propaganda attempt to dismiss allegations its troops are attacking women and children.

Ukrainian officials said 73 people had to be evacuated from a psychiatric hospital near the eastern Ukrainian town of Izyum today after it was hit, with numbers of injuries and fatalities currently unclear. The tragic news comes as a huge Russian convoy north of Kyiv disperses into nearby towns and forests as the capital braces for a renewed offensive.

On Monday Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove will set out details of a new “sponsored” humanitarian route to allow Ukrainians without family links to the UK to come to the country following days of criticism of the UK government.

President Joe Biden has announced that the US along with other allies, is revoking permanent normal trade relations with Russia. In a statement, Biden said that the combined economic might of the countries acting was equal to half of the global economy. He said this would be “another crushing blow to the Russian economy that is already suffering very badly from our sanctions.”