Mother’s horror as daughter, 14, is ‘decapitated’ by Putin missile shrapnel near playground… as Russia launches new airstrikes on the day Ukrainian children return to school

A grieving Ukrainian mother has told of the moment she discovered her 14-year-old daughter had been killed by a Russian missile as she sat on a bench in a park in Kharkiv.

The story of the family’s devastation began when the girl’s father disappeared and was presumed dead in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. It ended with the teenager’s gruesome death in the brutal bombardment of Ukraine’s second-largest city on Saturday.

Heartbreaking footage captured her mother bursting into tears as she sat on the couch just metres away from her daughter’s tortured body.

Separate images showed the girl’s head blown apart by shrapnel and large pools of blood on the asphalt beneath her seat.

The woman sobbed uncontrollably, her legs shaking with grief, as police and paramedics covered the teenager’s body before it was taken to one of Kharkiv’s many morgues.

“She was only 14 years old… she had her whole life ahead of her,” the mother said, her face twisted with anger and fear.

The horrific scene, captured by bystanders and shared by officials, underscores the latest atrocities being suffered by Ukrainian civilians at the hands of Russian forces, who continue to relentlessly bomb major cities as thousands of children prepare for their first day of school.

The capital of Ukraine was bombarded with rockets and kamikaze drones early this morning, with Kiev’s air defenses doing everything they could to shoot down as many projectiles as possible.

Shocking images showed huge fireballs rising between residential buildings and lighting up the night sky above the capital.

The air force reported that it had destroyed 22 of 35 missiles and 20 of 23 attack drones in the Kiev, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhia regions early this morning.

But falling debris from the downed weapons injured at least two people in the capital, sparking fires and damaging homes and infrastructure, officials said.

Air raid sirens were sounded over Ukraine for nearly two hours, until the air force finally declared the skies clear at 6:30 a.m. local time.

This morning’s attack came exactly a week after Moscow fired more than 200 missiles and drones into Ukraine, killing seven people and hitting energy facilities across the country in what Kiev called the “largest” attack of the war.

But Vladimir Putin’s forces continued to wreak havoc in Ukraine last week, killing dozens of people as missiles and drones struck civilian infrastructure.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, was hit hardest by the devastation, with universities, sports complexes, supermarkets and office buildings badly damaged.

Oleh Synehubov, head of the Kharkiv region, confirmed this morning that another strike had taken place in the Industrialnyi district, during which a residential building and several other buildings were set on fire.

Meanwhile, new images taken in Kiev this morning showed residential buildings hit by rocket attacks, as teenage students stared in disbelief at gaping holes in the sides of their university buildings.

However, Ukraine has hit back at Russia in recent days, forcing Putin’s military and air defense units to repel a major drone attack that targeted several regions. Ukrainian troops continue their invasion of Kursk.

Despite the constant threat of Russian bombs and missiles, many students and their families are staying home as they prepare for the new school year.

Kseniia Kucher, 16, starts a new school year in Kharkiv today.

In recent years, she has taken most of her classes online, but she was still able to attend some classes in person.

She lives with her mother and younger brother, while her father serves at the front.

Her family has packed their ’emergency bags’ with essential items and documents, but has no plans to leave at this time. Kseniia is determined to continue her education, despite the ongoing attacks.

“It’s really hard to get through, especially when the strikes happen at night. You literally wake up in bed shaking from the explosions,” she told an AP reporter.

‘And yet it is easier because you are still at home. You are with your loved ones and not in a strange environment.

‘I live in the here and now and don’t make big plans for the future, because if I understand the current situation… I don’t know what will happen in a year.

“Being a teenager during the war is hard,” she said. “You don’t fully understand your emotions and everything affects you. It’s hard to live with.”