NOTE: This article contains disturbing images of victims killed and injured in Kramatorsk. “In the absence of strength and courage to stand us on the battlefield, [the Russians] “They are cynically destroying the civilian population,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “This is an evil that has no limits. “And if he is not punished, he will never stop.” Ukrainian soldiers carry a victim to be placed next to other victims after the bombing of the train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, in the Donbas region, April 8, 2022. HERVE BAR / AFP / Getty About 4,000 people, mostly women and children, were at the train station at the time of the attack, the Kramatorsk mayor said. Graphic images posted on social media appeared to show a number of victims in civilian clothes. “This is a deliberate strike on the railway infrastructure and the people of Kramatorsk,” Alexander Kamyshin, the head of the country’s national railway, wrote on social media. Ukrainian police are inspecting the wreckage of a large rocket labeled “for children” in Russian next to the main building of a train station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, which was used to evacuate civilians, which was hit by a rocket and killed at least 35 people, on April 8, 2022. Fadel Senna / AFP / Getty Ukrainian security forces were seen inspecting the wreckage of a rocket opposite the train station after the attack. The corpse of the rocket had the phrase “for children” in Russian on its side. This Russian phrase has a meaning closer to “on behalf of children” or “in retaliation for attacking children” and not “targeting children”. Russia has denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday stating “Similar, baseless allegations concerning Ukraine have been made more than once. “All the statements made by representatives of the nationalist regime in Kiev about the” rocket attack “that Russia allegedly carried out on April 8 at the railway station in the city of Kramatorsk are provocative and completely untrue,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. Ukrainian soldiers check for signs of life among the victims on the platform after a rocket attack on the train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, Donbass region, on April 8, 2022. ANATOLII STEPANOV / AFP via Getty Images Officials have warned that Russia will withdraw troops from other parts of Ukraine and intensify its attacks in the eastern Donbas region, and civilians are rushing to evacuate the area. “We’re going to have a lot of forces down there,” Nick Reynolds, a ground research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, a pool of defense and security thinking, told CBS News. The speed with which the West can send military aid to help Ukraine will make a big difference in the country’s ability to hold back further Russian advance from the east. “We are in an awkward position right now in terms of supporting Ukraine, because a lot of things that are quite easy to transfer and put on the field … these stocks have fallen,” Reynolds said. Larger systems that would be useful to Ukraine, such as the S-300, are more difficult to transport and will take time to reach the front. “To some extent, this coming month will decide several things. The battle for Mariupol will significantly shape the political situation: what is possible and what is not possible for both the Ukrainians and the international community and Russia.” Reynolds told CBS. News. He said that if the Russians managed to capture the southeastern city of Mariupol, their strategic goals would become much more sustainable. “But it is also very important for the international community,” Reynolds said. “Because we really have no option to de-escalate – no politically or morally acceptable option to de-escalate with Russia or return to any kind of even partial normalization of relations in a negotiated settlement – if Russia controls large population centers like this.” More Haley Ott Haley Ott is a digital reporter / producer for CBS News based in London.
