A rocket attack on a train station in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine killed dozens of people fleeing. Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy condemned the attack, the Kremlin denied responsibility.
Corpses, pools of blood and scattered luggage: these are gruesome images of death and devastation in Kramatorsk. Dozens of people were killed in a rocket attack on the train station in the eastern Ukrainian city. The Ukrainian secret service SBU spoke of 39 dead on Friday, including four children. Dozens were injured. About 4,000 people stayed at the station, said Mayor Olexander Honcharenko. In view of an expected Russian offensive, the Ukrainian authorities had called on the population of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to flee. Kramatorsk is controlled by Ukrainian troops but is considered a Russian target.
Videos from the day before give a picture of how chaotic the situation may have been. Many people who had suitcases and bags with them wanted to leave the city for fear of being attacked. Then probably hit two rockets. A video is circulating on the Telegram news service, which is said to show the shooting down from near Shakhtarsk. The city is located in the pro-Russian separatist-controlled region of Donetsk Oblast.
Zelenskyj: “It’s just an ordinary train station”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia. The Russian military attacked an ordinary train station, said Zelenskyj on Friday at the beginning of a video address in front of the Finnish parliament. People would have waited at the station for trains to be evacuated to safe areas.
“It’s just an ordinary train station, just an ordinary city in eastern Ukraine,” the president said. The attack shows what Russia means by protecting the Donbass region and the Russian-speaking population. “This is the 44th day of our reality,” says Zelenskyj.
The attack happened on the same day that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell traveled by train to Kyiv as a sign of support. Both condemned the attack in the strongest possible terms. “I am appalled at the loss of life and will personally express my condolences to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.
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“This is yet another attempt to close escape routes for those escaping this unjust war and cause human suffering,” Borrell tweeted. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss stressed: “An attack on civilians is a war crime.”
Kremlin denies responsibility for attack in Kramatorsk
Russia, however, strictly rejected the allegations. The Defense Ministry in Moscow spoke of a “provocation”. “Our armed forces do not use this type of missile,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian agencies. He had the type Totschka-U presumably used in his sights. Military experts and investigative reporters doubt this account. The Tochka-U is considered less accurate than the Iskander, which Russia has frequently used.
Kremlin spokesman Peskov said: “There were no combat missions in Kramatorsk, and none were planned today.” The pro-Moscow separatists, who claim the entire Donetsk region, blamed Ukrainian forces. They keep claiming that Ukrainian “nationalists” are using the civilian population as shields and preventing their evacuation. They provide no evidence of this.
The attack on Kramatorsk draws more attention than before to the Donbass. Russia had announced that it would focus its attacks on the region, which is probably why it withdrew its troops from northern Ukraine. According to Western military experts, the attack on Kyiv had failed there. The Kremlin, on the other hand, calls the withdrawal a “sign of good will” to create confidence for negotiations.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine continues
But the fighting in eastern Ukraine continues. On Friday night, the Ukrainian general staff reported that several Russian advances had been unsuccessful. However, the enemy continues to gather troops. “We feel the end of preparations for this big fight that we will have in Luhansk and Donetsk regions,” said Luhansk Governor Serhiy Hajday.
Ukraine is also strengthening its positions. Since the beginning of the war, the most experienced troops who have faced the separatists in recent years have been fighting on the eastern front. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba campaigned for significantly more weapons from NATO in Brussels. “The Battle of Donbass will remind you of World War II, with large-scale operations, thousands of tanks, armored vehicles, aircraft and artillery,” Kuleba said.
Source: Stern
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