‘Horrific’ strike kills 52 at train station in Ukraine

‘Horrific’ strike kills 52 at train station in Ukraine

US President Joe Biden accused Russia of carrying out a “horrific atrocity,” after a rocket attack on a train station packed with conflict evacuees in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk left at least 52 dead – including five children.

More than a month into President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has shifted focus to the east and south of the country after resistance halted plans to swiftly capture the capital Kyiv.

“The attack on a Ukrainian train station is yet another horrific atrocity committed by Russia, striking civilians who were trying to evacuate and reach safety,” Mr Biden said on Twitter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported 300 were injured, saying the strike showed “evil with no limits,” though Russia’s defence ministry denied carrying out the attack.

Mr Biden, in a separate statement, thanked Slovakia for giving Ukraine a Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft air defence system, and vowed that “now is no time for complacency.”

“The Russian military may have failed in its objective of capturing Kyiv, but it continues to inflict horrific acts of brutality,” he said, adding that Volodymyr Zelensky had personally raised the issue of how Ukraine could obtain an S-300 system.

“As the Russian military repositions for the next phase of this war, I have directed my administration to continue to spare no effort to identify and provide to the Ukrainian military the advanced weapons capabilities it needs,” the US President said.

The United States believes that Russia used a short range ballistic missile to strike the railway station.

A senior defence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the SS-21 missile was used by Russia in the Kramatorsk strike but their motivation was not clear.

“We are not buying the denial by the Russians that they weren’t responsible,” the official said.

The attack at Kramatorsk came mid-morning, when hundreds were gathered at the train station, waiting for evacuation out of eastern Ukraine as they had done at the same time for the last several days.

Body parts, packed bags and stuffed animals were flung across the floor after two rockets struck the busy hub.

“I was in the station. I heard like a double explosion. I rushed to the wall for protection,” said Natalia, searching for her passport among the abandoned belongings.

“I saw people covered in blood coming into the station and bodies everywhere on the ground. I don’t know if they were just injured or dead,” she told AFP.

Around 30 bodies, all in civilian clothing, were grouped together and placed under plastic sheets next to a kiosk daubed yellow and blue – the colours of Ukraine’s flag – outside the station, where blood pooled on the ground.

On the station platform, a walking stick lay next to a lump of flesh. Further along, a toy rabbit soaked red.

The toll from the strikes rose through the day with the governor of the Donetsk region saying 52 people had been killed, including five children.

Kramatorsk had been hit by Russian strikes earlier this week but had been otherwise spared the destruction witnessed by other eastern Ukraine cities since Russia’s invasion.

Moscow denied involvement in the strike and accused Kyiv of carrying out the attack.

Prosecutors in the Donetsk region said in a statement that at the time of the attack, there were approximately 4,000 civilians at the station, mostly women and children.

Earlier in the morning, AFP saw dozens of people – women, children and the elderly – throng the station desperate to escape the feared Russian advance on eastern Ukraine.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney described the attack at Kramatorsk as “savagery”.

He said on Twitter: “More horrific images, more deliberate targeting of civilians by Russian military in Ukraine, this time predominantly women and children trying to flee conflict areas by train!

“Sanctions must be as strong as possible to stop this kind of savagery.”

The attack on Kramatorsk railway station can be classified as a crime against humanity, France has said.

“They hit a station where there are refugees, civilians and so this can be seen as a crime against humanity,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France 5 television.

He called for experts to head to the scene to gather evidence so the perpetrators can be held to account.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today visited a mass grave in Bucha, a town outside Kyiv where Russian forces are accused by Ukraine’s allies of carrying out atrocities against civilians.

She pledged to offer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a speedier start to Ukraine’s bid to become a member of the European Union.

Mr Zelensky told her that more sanctions are needed against Russia.

In a joint briefing with Mr Zelensky in Kyiv, Ms von der Leyen said the EU must monitor Russian attempts to circumvent sanctions and impose stricter ones if necessary.

European Council President Charles Michel accused Russia of the “horrifying” attack. He said “action was needed” and pointed to a fifth wave of EU sanctions on Russia agreed today.

“Horrifying to see Russia strike one of the main stations used by civilians evacuating the region where Russia is stepping up its attack,” Mr Michel said on Twitter.

Meanwhile Britain is to send a fresh package of “high-grade” military equipment to Ukraine amid signs Russian forces are preparing for a new offensive in the east of the country.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK would be sending £100 million of kit including more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank weapons and “precision munitions” such as drones capable of loitering in the sky until directed to their target.

It comes as Turkey tries to revive talks between Russia and Ukraine that were stalled after atrocities were uncovered in Bucha and other regions near Kyiv, saying the two countries are still ready to meet on its soil.

“Both Russia and Ukraine are willing to hold the talks in Turkey but they are far away from agreeing on a common text,” a high-ranking Turkish official told a small group of journalists today.

Meanwhile forensic investigators began exhuming a mass grave in Bucha today, wrapping in black plastic and laying out the bodies of civilians who officials say were killed while Russian troops occupied the town just northwest of Kyiv.

Ruslan Kravchenko, from the prosecutor’s office in Bucha, said they had exhumed 20 bodies, 18 of whom had firearms and shrapnel wounds.

He said two women had been identified, one of whom had worked at a supermarket in the town centre.

“There are witnesses who can confirm that these people were killed by the Russian forces. Without any reason, they were just walking down the street or being evacuated,” he told Reuters.

“Some of them were just speaking Ukrainian.”

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that allegations that Russian forces had executed civilians in Bucha were a “monstrous forgery” aimed at denigrating the Russian army.

Mr Kravchenko said the forensic investigators would work to build up a picture of what happened to those buried in the grave, adding the investigation into the deaths was “unprecedented” in scale.

The specialists, clad in white suits, covered the graves with plastic sheeting as rain fell.

Since Russian troops pulled back from Bucha last week, Ukrainian officials say hundreds of civilians have been found dead.

Bucha’s deputy mayor, Taras Shapravskyi, said today that more than 360 civilians were killed and around 260-280 were buried by other residents in the mass grave.

Meanwhile, Russia has given the most sombre assessment so far of its invasion of Ukraine, describing the “tragedy” of mounting troop losses and the economic hit from sanctions, as Ukrainians were evacuated from eastern cities before an anticipated major offensive.

Russia’s six-week long invasion has seen more than four million people flee abroad, killed or injured thousands, turned cities into rubble and led to sweeping sanctions on its leaders and companies.

In a symbolic move, the UN General Assembly suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, expressing “grave concern at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis”. Russia then quit the council.