RUSSIAN troops murdered one of their own when he tried to save a Ukrainian woman and her daughter from being shot.
Terrified Iryna Perlifon, 52, and daughter Karolina, 29, were trying to flee when Kharkiv was invaded.
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But when two Russian soldiers offered help and tried to hide them, all four were shot at.
Iryna was hit in the head and died in her daughter’s arms. One of the Russian soldiers was also killed. The other was seriously injured but managed to get away.
Dog breeder Karolina was wounded during the incident in February but survived and has now told The Sun of her ordeal, which is being investigated as a war crime.
She said: “My mother was driving the car but started to panic. We stopped and saw two Russian soldiers.
“We feared the worst but they actually helped.”
They hid the pair near some garages and stayed with them for 15 minutes — but another group of soldiers spotted them and opened fire.
Karolina said that the friendly soldier was “begging, saying, ‘Don’t shoot, don’t shoot’. He started to cry. There was a lot of shouting.
“I had my face down. All I could hear was shooting. There was blood everywhere when I looked up. I was convinced I was going to die. I got shrapnel from one of the bullets and I was wounded.
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“I got up and I started to tremble because I could see my mum. I found the bullet in her head and realised she was dead. I was so afraid. I could not believe what happened.”
Karolina got away as the shooting continued, and also managed to get the injured Russian into a car to escape.
She said: “Nobody deserves this. We were trying to get out. It’s horrific. It’s ruined my life. I’m devastated with grief.”
General Zelenov Evgeny Alexandrovic is accused of war crimes by ordering troops to fire at civilians.
An international manhunt has been launched.
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