Sawt Falasteen - Ukrainian town mourns three siblings killed in Russian strike

Seventeen-year-old Roman was just a few days from graduating, while his 12-year-old sister and eight-year-old brother had field trips and holidays to look forward to, their school said.

They were instead laid to rest on Wednesday, victims of a Russian missile attack on their home during the weekend as Moscow amped up strikes across Ukraine.

At a funeral service for the children in Korostyshiv, their bodies were laid side by side in three open white coffins, their faces waxy and drawn.

Red marks were visible on their faces, despite the make-up, bearing witness to the violence of the attack. Their parents were also wounded but survived.

Russia's invasion has left tens of thousands of dead in Ukraine, both military and civilian.

At least 630 children have been killed since the start of the war, according to the latest official figures.

Korostyshiv, a town of about 20,000 people hundreds of kilometres from the front line, was deeply shaken by the attack.

"It was something we have not faced since the beginning of the full-scale invasion," said Yuriy Denysovets, secretary of the town council.

"We are seeing them off on their last journey," he said.

Their school said in a statement they were "in pain", condemning the attack as brutal.

Outside the community centre where the funeral service was taking place, hundreds of people gathered to watch the procession of the coffins.

They stood in silence, some with their heads bowed, others clutching red carnations in their hands.

- 'They're gone' -

Inside the centre, a priest swung incense, while flickering candles cast a dim light on the mourners.

"We are gathered here for Roman, Tamara and Stanislav, killed by a Russian missile," the priest said.

A woman could be seen shaking her head.

The children's father Igor was among the mourners, his eyes blackened and his face grazed.

He struggled to hold back tears as his relatives, including his eldest son, tried to comfort him.

"This family is very kind, very calm. They always found understanding with neighbours and friends," Denysovets said.

The children's mother was unable to attend the service as she was still in hospital, but was expected to make a full recovery.

The two older brothers were not at home during the attack.

Oleksandr Martyniuk, 24, one of the brothers, said he learned of the strike after receiving a call from a friend saying his family's neighbourhood had been hit.

He called his parents and brothers one by one, but "no one picked up".

"My uncle said that it hit our house. My father and mother are in intensive care, and the children are gone," he told AFP.

In front of the coffins, lined with stuffed animals and toys, relatives filed past to lay flowers, some clasping their faces in tears.

A young girl rang a bell, a symbolic gesture signifying "the last bell of the school year", said headmaster Pavlo Pozniakov.

The bodies were later taken into the cemetery, the sound of birds chirping through the air.

The children's father was in tears.

He looked away as the coffins were lowered into the ground.

"They're gone," he cried out, shaking with sobs as he walked away from the grave.

Oleksandr said he used to buy sweets for his siblings when he visited them.

"I wish I could say... that it would stop as soon as possible and that there would be no more innocent victims."

Y.AlMasri--SF-PST