As a result of the shelling of the Kramatorsk railway station, 50 people were killed, including five children

According to preliminary data, 50 people were killed, more than a hundred were injured as a result of the Tochka-U strike on the railway station in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region. More than 4,000 people were expected to be evacuated there at that time.

Five children were among the victims, according to Pavel Kirilenko, head of the Donetsk OVA. His words are quoted pravda.com.ua:

Fifty dead, five of them children. This is the number of victims at this hour as a result of the strike of the Russian occupation troops “Tochka-U” on the railway station of Kramatorsk. So far, 98 people have been taken to hospitals. We expect that other victims will also apply for medical help within one or two days, so the number of victims will constantly change. Of the 98 wounded taken to medical facilities, 16 are children, 46 women and 36 men. Twelve people died in the hospital, 38 people died at the train station.”

On April 8, cluster shells from the Tochka-U complex were launched from the occupied territories of the Luhansk region, falling in the area of ​​the Kramatorsk railway station, crowded with people who wanted to evacuate, mostly mothers with children. President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the world to respond harshly to what happened.

Earlier, the Ukrainian authorities called on civilians in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions to evacuate as soon as possible in order to leave before the planned large-scale offensive of Russian troops. Most likely that is why the Kramatorsk railway station was overcrowded, writes air force.

Videos and photos posted on the railway’s Telegram channel show harsh images of bodies scattered on the ground and pools of blood. Ukrzaliznytsia writes:

“This is a targeted blow to the passenger infrastructure of the railway and the residents of the city of Kramatorsk.”

There are children among the dead. According to the National Police of Ukraine, the rocket hit the waiting room, where there were hundreds of people waiting for the evacuation train. The message says:

“Currently, police, rescuers, explosives experts and doctors are working on the spot. It is already known about the dead, among whom there are children. Help is provided to everyone who needs it.”

Kramatorsk station is now closed to trains. You can leave the Donetsk region from Slavyansk.

Pavel Kirilenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, wrote on his Telegram channel that the strike was carried out by a Russian Iskander missile. Later, he clarified that it was about the Tochka-U missile, “but this does not change the essence, since the Russians knew exactly where they were aiming.” Eyewitness videos convey the horror of what happened:

President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the information about the shelling:

“Russian monsters do not leave their methods. Being unable and courage to resist us on the battlefield, they cynically destroy the civilian population.”

Speaking about this tragedy, the Air Force warns that in the conditions of war the publication cannot quickly confirm information about the shelling, the number of dead and wounded.

Nathan Mook, executive director of free food charity World Central Kitchen, was at the train station minutes before the missile hit. He tells the BBC correspondent:

“We drove past the station on the overpass, it was clear that there were more than a thousand people there. It was crowded, like yesterday and the day before yesterday.”

Literally a few minutes later, according to Mook, from 5 to 10 explosions thundered:

“One of our guys, who was on [продовольственном] warehouse, said that he saw how the Ukrainian air defense intercepted one of the missiles.

After arriving at the station, Nathan Mook saw fragments of a rocket in the parking lot, broken windows and about twenty people injured:

“The ambulance crews arrived at the scene very quickly, they treated the wounded and the dead.”

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation said that Russia did not carry out a missile attack on Kramatorsk, and the DPR called the shelling a provocation. As writes RIA Newsan analysis of the radius of destruction of the warhead and the position of the body of the tail of the Tochka-U missile confirm that it was launched by the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the south-western direction from Kramatorsk, said the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov. The Russian military department claims that the missiles ” Tochka-U” are used only by the Ukrainian armed forces.

However, the Air Force notes, there is evidence that the Tochka-U missile could remain in service in Russia. On March 6, the Conflict Intelligence investigative team claimed that the missile continues to be in service with the Russian army – despite the fact that most of the missiles have been replaced by more modern Iskanders. In conditions of war, the Air Force cannot quickly confirm information about the weapons of the warring parties.

US President Joe Biden commented on the strike of the Russian military on the railway station in Kramatorsk:

“The attack on the Ukrainian railway station is another terrible atrocity committed by Russia, during which civilians were targeted as they tried to evacuate and get to safety.”

Meanwhile, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the National Center for Defense Control of the Russian Federation, said at a briefing, according to RIA Newsthat the one-sided coverage of the situation in Ukraine by international organizations indicates signs of their collusion against Russia:

“Once again, we draw attention to the overt bias and one-sidedness of the coverage of events in Ukraine by international organizations, as well as by the media of the so-called “civilized world.”

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