Ukraine and its allies have blamed Russia for a rocket attack that killed at least 52 people at a train station full of women, children and the elderly who escaped the threat of a Russian attack in the east. As regional authorities sought to continue evacuating the vulnerable, European Union leaders visited Kyiv to offer support to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and accelerate Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Zelensky described the attack in Kramatorsk in the eastern part of Donetsk as a deliberate attack on civilians. The mayor of the city estimated that about 4,000 people were gathered there at that time.
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Regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said the station was hit by a Tochka U short-range ballistic missile containing cluster munitions, which exploded in the air, dropping small deadly bombs on a wider area. The story goes on under the ad Reuters could not verify what happened in Kramatorsk. Cluster munitions are banned under a 2008 agreement. Russia has not signed it, but has previously denied using such weapons in Ukraine. In Washington, a senior defense official said the United States “did not buy into the Russians’ denial that they were not responsible” and believed that Kyrylenko had correctly identified the type of missile used in the attack. Ukrainian troops remove bodies after a rocket attack that killed at least 35 people on April 8, 2022 at a train station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, used to evacuate civilians. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP via Getty Images) A rocket fired by Russia is believed to have killed more than 30 people and injured more than 100 in a Russian attack on a train station in eastern Ukraine on March 8. April 2022. Two rockets hit a station in Kramatorsk, a city in the Donetsk region, where dozens of people were waiting to be evacuated to safer areas, according to Ukrainian Railways. (Photo by Andrea Carrubba / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Ukrainian soldiers load corpses on a military truck after a rocket attack that killed at least 35 people on April 8, 2022 at a train station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, used by civilians. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP via Getty Images) The Russian Defense Ministry quoted RIA News as saying that the missiles allegedly hitting the station were used only by the Ukrainian army and that the Russian armed forces had no targets in Kramatorsk on Friday. The story goes on under the ad Zelenski told the Finnish parliament in a videotaped speech that there were no Ukrainian troops at the station. “We expect a firm global response to this war crime,” he later said in a statement posted on the Internet. Moscow has denied that it has targeted civilians since President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 in what Russia calls a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “demilitarize” its neighbor. Kyiv and Western supporters call it a pretext for an unprovoked invasion that has displaced a quarter of the population and killed or injured thousands. 2:05 Ukrainian Foreign Minister warns that the battle of Donbas will remind the world of World War II Ukrainian officials are now awaiting an attempt by Russian forces to gain full control of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk, which have been held in part by Moscow-backed separatists since 2014. Trending Stories
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The Kremlin said on Friday that the “special operation” could end in the “foreseeable future” and that its goals could be achieved through the work of the Russian military and peace negotiators. The story goes on under the ad The White House has said it will support efforts to investigate the Kramatorsk attack. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that this shows “the depths in which Putin’s famous army has sunk”. At least 52 people were killed in the incident, Pavlo Kirilenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said in an online post. OIL AND GAS The wreckage of the missile carried the words “(this is) for the children” to his side. Russia has long accused Ukraine of killing civilians, including children, in raids on separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine. As Russia focuses on the east, Ukrainian forces there said late Friday that they had repulsed seven Russian attacks, destroying nine tanks, seven other armored vehicles and two helicopters. Reuters could not independently verify this. After a partial withdrawal from Russia near Kyiv, a team of medical examiners on Friday began exhuming a mass grave in the city of Bucha. Authorities say hundreds of dead people have been found there. The bodies are covered in plastic sheets after a rocket attack that killed at least 35 people on April 8, 2022 at a train station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, used to evacuate civilians. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP via Getty Images) used to evacuate civilians. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP via Getty Images) Visiting the city on Friday, von der Leyen said she witnessed the “unthinkable”. The story goes on under the ad He later handed Zelensky a questionnaire that was the starting point for the EU to decide on membership, saying: “It will not be a matter of years to form this opinion, but I think it is a matter of weeks.” Read the whole story The bloc has also overcome some divisions to adopt new sanctions, including bans on imports of coal, wood, chemicals and other products as well as the freezing of assets belonging to Putin’s daughters and more oligarchs. Zelensky has been urging Brussels to be tougher on Moscow for weeks. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said a possible oil embargo would be discussed on Monday, but described the oil sanctions as “a big elephant in the room” as the continent is heavily dependent on Russian energy.
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Von der Leyen said the EU should monitor Russia’s efforts to circumvent existing sanctions and impose tougher ones if necessary. Russia has called allegations that its forces executed civilians in Bukhara a “monstrous forgery” aimed at discrediting its military and justifying further sanctions. Russian forces have failed to capture any major cities so far, facing unexpectedly strong resistance and subject to logistical, logistical and ethical problems, according to Western intelligence officials. The story goes on under the ad POSTING FROM THE PROFESSION Kyiv wants heavier arms deliveries and on Thursday secured a new commitment from the NATO alliance to supply a wide range of weapons. Slovakia has donated the S-300 air defense system to Ukraine, while Britain will send an additional 100 100 million ($ 130 million) in military support. In Prague, defense sources said the Czech Republic had delivered tanks, rocket launchers, shells and infantry fighting vehicles and would send more.
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Meanwhile, residents of areas north of Kiev reconciled with the occupation for a month. In the village of Yahidne, residents told how more than 300 people were trapped for weeks in a school basement, with the names of those who did not survive or killed by soldiers carved into the wall. Reuters was unable to independently verify the accounts. Reporters saw a recently dug grave and two corpses wrapped in white plastic sheets. (Additional references by James Mackenzie in Ukraine’s Yahidne and Reuters offices; Written by Tomasz Janowski, John Stonestreet and Costas Pitas; Edited by Frances Kerry, Alistair Bell and Daniel Wallis) © 2022 The Associated Press
