A Ukrainian man whose wife and children were killed by Russian mortar fire said he learned of their deaths on Twitter

A Ukrainian mother and her two children, along with a church volunteer who was helping them escape, were killed by mortar fire on Sunday as they attempted to flee via a damaged bridge in the town of Irpin.

The New York Times reported that Serhiy Perebyinis discovered the deaths of his wife and children via graphic photos of their dead bodies on the internet.

The photograph of the family and volunteer covered in blood and lying lifeless in the street was taken by a New York Times photographer and was quickly spread over the weekend.

In an interview with the newspaper, Perebyinis confirmed that his wife and their two children were among the victims in the photograph.

After a shell hit their apartment building one night last week, Serhiy's wife decided it was time to leave the city and take their children with them.

The family never made it out.

The travelers had to cross a hundred yards of exposed street on the side of a ruined bridge to escape the city.

The outlet reported that Berezhnyi, a church volunteer who had already evacuated his own family but returned to help others, was with the family when they ran to safety. The group was just 12 yards away from where a Russian mortar shell hit and killed them all.

Ukrainian soldiers stood over the bodies of the family with their luggage strewn about the street.

Their luggage led to their identification.

Serhiy Perebyinis told The Times that he recognized the luggage.

He said he saw posts on social media that a family had been killed in a mortar strike while trying to escape from Irpin. He knew after seeing a post with a photograph on his feed.

Serhiy Perebyinis told The Times that it was important for his family to be recorded in photographs.

He said that the whole world should know what is happening.