They actually wanted to flee west by train. But at the train station in Kramatorsk, the journey suddenly ends for many people. Men, women and children die in a Russian missile attack. Some have miraculously survived – and tell of the horror.
The cruel attack took place around 10.30 a.m., at a time when hundreds of refugees had gathered at the train station in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine: The governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, spoke of 50 dead on Friday, including five children. Almost 100 people were injured. Russia denied any responsibility and blamed Ukraine for the attack.
After the rocket hit, there was dead silence in front of the pretty train station with its red and white brick gable. A look at the forecourt gave an idea of the extent of the tragedy: large pools of blood, broken glass, scattered luggage and a stuffed rabbit soaked in blood covered the ground. A torn foot in a sneaker peeked out from under a waiting bench. The remains of a large rocket with the Russian inscription “For our children” also lay on the square.
“I was at the train station. I heard a double explosion and I ran to a wall to protect myself,” said one woman, searching for her passport among the abandoned belongings on the ground. “I saw people covered in blood coming into the station and there were corpses everywhere. I don’t know if they were just injured or dead.”
A police officer walked around between the rubble and collected blood-smeared mobile phones, one of which kept ringing in vain. The bodies, some of which were shredded, were placed in a corner of the forecourt in front of the small shops where travelers usually buy drinks and snacks.
War in eastern Ukraine drives residents to flee
The Kramatorsk train station in the Donbass had been used by thousands of people to flee west for days. In the past few days, the Ukrainian authorities have not tired of urging people to leave eastern Ukraine.
Ever since Russia announced it would focus its military efforts on “liberating” Donbass, residents have lived in fear of a major offensive. Before the war more than 150,000 people lived in Kramatorsk. The city is now being pinched by the Russian army, which recently captured the northwestern city of Izyum.
The war has also arrived in Severodonetsk, about 80 kilometers away. Shells explode in the distance, buildings burn. An old woman is waiting for the bus that is supposed to take her out of town, a cat on her lap. “I don’t want to go, but you see all the bombing,” she says. “Now we are homeless.”
She is one of dozens of elderly people who followed the evacuation call that day. The buses take people from Severodonetsk to a small train station outside the city. From there they travel to Slavjansk, from where a train is supposed to take them further west.
Bus driver: “No one is left behind”
Severodonetsk was once considered the jewel of the Donbass mining region and a Soviet flagship city. Around 100,000 people lived here before the war. Around 50 people have gathered on the benches in front of the Kulturpalast, a holdover from communism. The imposing building is still intact, but numerous windows are broken.
When the bus arrives, people are crowding the doors with their suitcases. The driver tries to reassure people: “No one will be left behind, don’t worry.” Women and children have already been taken to safety by an earlier bus.
In the surrounding buildings, Ukrainian soldiers crouch and prepare for street fights. A series of heavy impacts can be heard nearby.
Source: Stern
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