KIEV — The New York Times correspondent Brent Renauld was killed in the Kiev suburb of Irpin on Sunday, while another journalist was injured, the Ukrainian authorities confirmed.

Russian forces fired eight rockets at the Yavoriv military range 30 kilometers northwest of Lviv in western Ukraine, expanding its offensive closer to the border with Poland.

Moscow is trying to create new puppet republics in Ukraine similar to the two in Donbas to break his country apart, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address to the nation Saturday.

In another ceasefire violation, seven Ukrainian civilians, including a child, died when the Russian army shelled a humanitarian convoy of refugees near Kiev and forced them to turn back, Ukrainian authorities claim.

Russian forces carried an attack on a military range near Lviv, expanding the offensive to western Ukraine.

Overnight, significant fighting continued in Irpin and Makariv near Kiev, while Chernihiv came under heavy bombardment. At least one residential building was destroyed in the Russian attack, with one person dead and seven reported injured.

In Luhansk, the cities of Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Lysychansk and Popasna are under constant fire. In the Donetsk region, Mariupol remains under siege.

The humanitarian crisis worsens as gas, water and electricity shortages continue to affect the residents of many cities, including the besieged southern port of Mariupol.

Ukrainian authorities again accused Russia of violating the ceasefire agreement and opening fire on "humanitarian corridors". Just nine of 14 agreed-upon corridors were open on Saturday, with 13,000 people evacuated on them around the country.

At least 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine in the two weeks since Russia invaded it, UNHCR said.

Pope Francis, meanwhile, decried the “barbarianism” of killing children and other defenseless civilians in Ukraine and pleaded to stop the attacks “before cities are reduced to cemeteries”.

In some of his most vigorous denunciations yet of the war in Ukraine, and in an apparent reference to Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the pontiff said that “there are no strategic reasons that hold up” in the face of such armed aggression.

Francis told about 25,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his customary Sunday noon appearance that Mariupol, the southern Ukrainian city that “bears the name” of the Virgin Mary, has “become a city martyred by the heartbreaking war that is devastating Ukraine.”

“In the name of God, I ask: ‘Stop this massacre,’” Francis said, sparking applause from the pilgrims, tourists and Romans, some of whom held Ukrainian flags, in the square.

Francis prayed for an end to the bombings and other attacks and for ensuring that humanitarian corridors “are safe and secure.”

Also the large military drone that crashed on the outskirts of the Croatian capital Zagreb on Thursday night had "airplane bomb" parts, Minister of Defense Mario Banožić said on Sunday.

"Traces of explosives were found, as well as other traces that indicate that this was not a scouting aircraft," he told the gathered press in Zagreb. "We found airplane bomb parts and have concluded that it was also Soviet-made."

The 1970s-made missile-like drone Tu-141 is currently in use by Ukrainian forces, but Banožić said that the Russian military could have launched the aircraft.

"There are elements indicating it could have come from either side," he stated.

A black box has been retrieved, and its contents are being analyzed. Banožić also stated that Croatia would work together with NATO — who are conducting a parallel investigation — to try and retrace the drone's point of origin.

In another development, Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov has called on NATO to immediately implement a no-fly zone after a Russian missile attack on the Yavoriv training facility near Lviv in western Ukraine.

"Russia has attacked the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security near Lviv. Foreign instructors work here," Reznikov said on Twitter. "This is new terrorist attack on peace & security near the EU-NATO border. Action must be taken to stop this. Close the sky!" — Euronews