‘Evil’ at Kramatorsk train station
‘‘It was important to start my visit in Bucha . . . because in Bucha our humanity was shattered. Ursula von der Leyen European Commission President
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called an attack on the train station in Kramatorsk as ‘‘evil’’. Hundreds of civilians were attempting to flee ahead of expected attacks. At least 52 people were killed and 98 injured.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other top EU officials who were in Ukraine to meet Zelenskyy, also denounced the train attack, with von der Leyen calling it ‘‘despicable’’ and saying she was ‘‘appalled by the loss of life’’.
Grisly scenes emerged from Kramatorsk, with bodies strewn among luggage, toys and debris. Witnesses described a large explosion followed by four or five ‘‘cluster bombs’’ that tore into a crowd of people who had gathered to catch an arriving train. Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional administration, said 38 people died at the station and another 12 in the hospital. Among the dead are five children, he said, with 16 children recorded as injured.
The horrific attack in Kramatorsk came a day after Russia was suspended from the UN Human Rights Council over reported atrocities in Bucha and elsewhere, and as Western allies continue to boost military and diplomatic support for Ukraine.
‘‘This is another war crime of Russia, for which everyone involved will be held accountable,’’ Zelenskyy said in a video address in which he again pleaded for Russians to be held accountable by an international court. ‘‘Like the massacre in Bucha, like many other Russian war crimes, the missile strike in
Kramatorsk must be one of the charges at the tribunal, which is bound to happen.’’
As the war enters its seventh week, Russian forces are intensifying their shelling of eastern and southern Ukraine, with analysts saying forces that were pushed back or evacuated from other parts of the country are regrouping. Ukrainian officials are calling for immediate evacuation ahead of what they expect to be a violent onslaught in the eastern provinces in coming days, which made the spectre of civilians slaughtered at a crowded
train station even more haunting.
President Joe Biden called the attack ‘‘yet another horrific atrocity committed by Russia.’’ He and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that the US would send a Patriot missile system to Slovakia, backfilling for the Nato member country after it earlier sent a Soviet-built S-300 air-defence system to Ukraine.
‘‘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 to defend its
country,’’ Biden said. He also signed into law two new measures designed to punish the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine: an act formalising the suspension of normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, and one that prohibits the import of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas and coal.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to send highgrade military equipment to Ukraine.
Japan announced it would expel eight Russian diplomats and take steps to reduce its dependence on Russian energy,
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.
Russia denied involvement in the train station attack. Its Defence Ministry said in a statement that fragments found near the station are ‘‘used only by the Ukrainian armed forces’’.
Pro-Moscow journalists reported the missile attack on Telegram channels within minutes of the shelling, referring to it as a successful Russian assault on Ukraine fighters or hardware, according to open source data analysts. However, the posts were swiftly deleted when information emerged on the high civilian toll.
Von der Leyen and other top EU officials travelled to Bucha, using their first trip to the region since the invasion to draw attention to alleged war crimes there during the town’s Russian occupation. Images posted from the trip show von der Leyen in a flak jacket, surrounded by armed Ukrainian military personnel as they survey rows of black body bags in an outdoor area.
‘‘It was important to start my visit in Bucha,’’ von der Leyen has tweeted. ‘‘Because in Bucha our humanity was shattered.’’ –