Ukraine war: Zelensky calls for ‘firm global response’ after railway station attack that killed at least 50 civilians trying to flee
- ‘This is another Russian war crime,’ President Volodymyr Zelensky said, referring to Friday’s missile strike, whose victims included five children
- Journalists saw dead people under plastic sheets next to the station, and body parts were strewn across the floor
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a “firm global response” Friday after a missile strike killed 52 people at a railway station in eastern Ukraine where civilians had gathered to flee a feared Russian offensive.
“This is another Russian war crime for which everyone involved will be held accountable,” Zelensky said in a video message, referring to Friday’s missile strike, whose victims included five children. “World powers have already condemned Russia’s attack on Kramatorsk. We expect a firm global response to this war crime,” he said.
At least 52 people were killed, the regional government said. Zelensky reported 300 wounded, saying the strike showed “evil with no limits”.
The Ukrainian president said the bombing had been reported in Russia before the missiles had even landed and called for more weaponry to counter Moscow’s aggression. “I am sure that the victory of Ukraine is just a matter of time, and I will do everything to reduce this time,” he added.
Journalists saw the bodies of at least 30 people under plastic sheets next to the station. Body parts, packed bags and stuffed animals were flung across the floor.
On the station forecourt, the remains of a missile were still visible. It was tagged in white paint with the words “for our children” in Russian, an expression frequently used by pro-Russian separatists in reference to their losses since the start of the first Donbas war in 2014.
“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. Another woman in a state of shock told AFP: “I saw people covered in blood entering the station and bodies everywhere on the ground.”
After the attack in the Donetsk capital, US President Joe Biden accused Russia of being behind a “horrific atrocity”. France condemned it as a “crime against humanity”.
The European Union called it a war crime. “This was a brutal, indiscriminate bombing of innocent civilians, including many children, who were fleeing amid fears of another Russian onslaught against their homes and country,” an EU spokesperson said.
“Those responsible for this war crime must be held accountable. There must be no impunity for war crimes. The EU supports measures to ensure accountability for human rights violations and international humanitarian law.”
Russia denied being behind the missile strike.
Western experts, however, dismissed Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s assertion that Russian forces “do not use” Tochka-U missiles, the type that hit the station. A Western official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence, said Russian forces have used the missile – and that given the strike’s location and impact, it was likely Russia’s.
On Saturday, the defence ministry in Moscow did admit that Russian forces had destroyed an ammunition depot in the Dnipro region, and struck 85 Ukrainian military targets in the previous 24 hours.
“There is no secret – the battle for Donbas will be decisive. What we have already experienced – all this horror – it can multiply,” warned Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday.
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Russia-Ukraine conflict: hundreds of body bags pile up in Bucha
In the south, the Black Sea port city of Odesa girded for rocket attacks, imposing a weekend curfew. Fresh allegations also emerged from Obukhovychi, northwest of Kyiv, where villagers said they were used as human shields.
Some of the grisliest evidence of atrocities so far has been found in Bucha and other towns around Kyiv, from which Russian troops pulled back in recent days.
10 humanitarian corridors for civilian evacuations were to set open on Saturday in Ukraine’s east according to Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. The corridors will allow residents to leave a number cities in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.
Those in Mariupol, Enerhodar, Tokmak, Berdyansk and Melitopol will be able to evacuate to the city of Zaporizhzhia, while those in Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, Girske and Rubizhne can evacuate to the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian authorities have called on civilians to get out ahead of an imminent, stepped-up offensive by Russian forces. Britain’s Defence Ministry reported Saturday that Russian naval forces were launching cruise missiles to support the ground operations in eastern Ukraine, including in the port cities of Mykolaiv and Mariupol.
