An image of a dog sitting beside his owner’s corpse in the Kyiv region of Ukraine has gone viral on the internet. The owner is believed to have been killed by the Russian Armed Forces.

In the photo, shared by Nexta TV on their Twitter handle on April 5, the canine can be seen refusing to leave the side of his owner.

“The dog does not leave its owner, who was killed by the #Russian invaders. #Kyiv region,” the image was captioned. 

Soon, the image went viral on the internet, with people saying it has left them “heartbroken.”

“My heart aches to watch all this sadness and tragedy and I can only imagine what the families are going through. Something must be done to stop this devastation and stop the Russians from commiting these war crimes. This is horrible!!” one person commented.

“It can break the heart of a dog just like it does people but who will know how to console the dog or care enough,” wrote another user. 

Another person commented, “I don’t know it is like they are cold with no heart, soul or empathy. I dreaded all day these images. Hurts my heart and soul.”

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. On Monday, several bodies were found strewn across streets, buildings and yards in Ukraine. The bodies were believed to be that of civilians, many of whom were killed at close range.

Ukrainian officials said the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in towns around Kyiv that were recaptured from the  Russian forces in recent days.

“Hundreds of people killed. Tortured, executed civilians. Bodies on the streets. Boobytrapped area. Even the bodies of the dead are boobytrapped. Widespread aftermath of looting. Concentrated evil has visited our land. The killers, executioners, rapists, marauders who call themselves an army … The world has already seen many war crimes. At different times. On different continents. But it is time to do everything so that the war crimes of the Russian military become the last manifestation of such evil on earth.” — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video address.