WARNING: The story contains details some readers will find distressing

The last cheerful moments of a Ukrainian girl before she was killed in a Russian missile strike have gone viral, amid outcry at the relentless shelling which has killed thousands of innocent civilians. 

Liza Dmitrieva, who celebrated her fourth birthday in March as Russia intensified its invasion of Ukraine, was killed on her way home from a speech therapy session just after 11am on Thursday. 

Less than two hours before, her mother Iryna had shared footage of Liza pushing her pink and black stroller along a street in Vinnytsia, a city that has remained largely untouched by the war.

Dressed in white leggings and a blue denim top, Liza's hair is tied up with a white clip shaped like a butterfly. Liza, who has Down's Syndrome, smiles, looking up at her mother walking beside her.

Iryna then shared a photo of her daughter at the centre, looking at a sheet of pictures.

The two left the centre at around 11am, but Liza never made it back home, with the Guardian reporting that three missiles of seven fired from a Russian submarine in the Black Sea, smashed into the city's square, exploding near the cultural centre, blowing out windows in a multi-storey building and setting dozens of cars in a nearby car park on fire.

Iryna, a 33-year-old blogger who lost a leg in the strike and survived, is reportedly in critical condition. 

Liza was one of three children killed in the attack.

Photo: Instagram screegrab

'Look at her, alive, please'

The last minutes of the little girl's life - a mixture of happy and tragic moments - have been followed by an outcry on social media.

Among others, Olena Zelenska, the wife of President Zelenskiy, told her Twitter followers she recognised Lisa from a Christmas video she had made.

Zelenska published the video, in which Liza is painting Christmas baubles.

The First Lady said the little girl “managed to paint not only herself, her holiday dress, but also all the other children, me, the cameramen and the director in half an hour.

“Look at her, alive, please," she pleaded.