Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – Civilian evacuations have moved forward in patches of eastern Ukraine affected by fighting on Saturday, killing at least 52 people and injuring more than 100 at a train station a day after thousands sought to leave earlier than expected. Russian attack.
Following the Kramatorsk attack, several European leaders sought to show solidarity with Ukraine, with the Austrian chancellor and British prime minister visiting Kyiv, the capital Russia failed to capture and where troops withdrew days ago. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, where Johnson’s cabinet said they had discussed “Britain’s long-term support”.
Ukrainian authorities have called on civilians to escape the inevitable, intensified offensive by Russian forces in the east. As trains did not depart from Kramatorsk on Saturday, panicked residents boarded buses or looked for other ways to leave, fearing a series of ruthless attacks and occupations by Russian invaders that deliver food shortages, demolished buildings and deaths to other Ukrainian cities. .
“It was horrible. The horror, the horror, “a resident told Britain’s Sky television, recalling Friday’s attack. “God forbid I go through this again. No, I do not want.”
The State Railway Company of Ukraine said in a statement that residents of Kramatorsk and other parts of the disputed region of Donbass could escape through other stations. Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said 10 evacuation corridors were planned for Saturday.
More than six weeks after Russia first invaded Ukraine, it withdrew its troops from the northern part of the country around Kyiv and moved to the Donbass region to the east. Western military analysts say territory in eastern Ukraine is under Russian control, from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the north, to Kherson in the south. But Ukrainian counterattacks threaten Russian control of Kherson, according to Western estimates, and Ukrainian forces repel Russian attacks elsewhere in the southeastern Donbass region.
Zelensky called the station attack the latest example of war crimes by Russian forces, and said it should motivate the West to do more to help his country defend itself.
“All global efforts will be focused on establishing every minute who did what, who gave what orders, where the rocket came from, who transported it, who gave the command and how this strike was arranged,” Zelenski said in his evening. video address. his voice rose with anger.
Russia has denied responsibility and accused the Ukrainian military of shelling the station to blame Moscow for the civilian casualties. A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry described in detail the trajectory of the missile and the positions of Ukrainian troops to support the argument.
Western experts and Ukrainian authorities have insisted that Russia has fired its weapons. On the remains of the rocket there are inscriptions “For the children” in Russian. The phrase seemed to suggest that the rocket was sent to avenge the loss or conquest of children, although its exact meaning remains unclear.
Western experts have dismissed Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s claim that Russian forces “do not use” Point-U “missiles, the type that hit the Kramatorsk railway station, which is in Ukrainian-controlled territory in Donbas.
The attack came as Ukrainian authorities worked to identify victims and document possible war crimes by Russian troops in northern Ukraine. The mayor of Bucha, a town near Kyiv where evidence of civilian killings has emerged since the Russian withdrawal, said search teams were still finding the bodies of people shot at close range in yards, parks and town squares.
On Friday, workers exhumed the bodies of 67 people from a mass grave near a church, according to Ukraine’s chief prosecutor. Russia is falsely claiming that the scenes in Bucha were staged.
Ukrainian authorities and Western officials have repeatedly accused Russian forces of atrocities in the war that began with the Russian invasion on February 24. A total of 176 children were killed and another 324 were injured, the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office said on Saturday.
In a detached “60 Minutes” interview with US television station CBS on Friday, Zelensky cited communications intercepted by Ukraine’s security service as evidence of Russian war crimes. The authenticity of the records cannot be verified independently.
“There are (Russian) soldiers who talk to their parents about what they stole and who they kidnapped. “There are records of (Russian) prisoners of war admitting to killing people,” he said. “There are pilots in the prison who had cards with civilian bombing targets. Investigations are also underway into the remains of those killed. “
Ukrainian authorities have warned they expect more mass killings after reaching the southern port city of Mariupol, which is also in Donbass and is under a month-long blockade and intense fighting.
As journalists, who were largely absent from the city, began to return, new photos emerged of the devastation of an airstrike on a theater last month, which reportedly killed hundreds of civilians seeking shelter.
Military analysts have been predicting for weeks that Russia will be able to take over Mariupol, but said Ukrainian defenders are still fighting. The location of the city on the Sea of Azov is crucial for the construction of a land bridge from the Crimean peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine eight years ago.
Many civilians now trying to evacuate are used to living in or near a military zone because Moscow-backed rebels have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014 in Donbass.
That same week, Russia invaded Ukraine, with Russian President Vladimir Putin recognizing the independence of separatist-controlled areas and saying he plans to send troops to protect residents of the predominantly Russian-speaking industrial region.
Almost every day, Ukrainian officials beg Western forces to send more weapons and further punish Russia with sanctions, including the exclusion of Russian banks from the global financial system and a full European Union embargo on Russian gas and oil.
The deaths of civilians at the station have sparked new expressions of outrage from Western leaders and promises that Russia will face further repression for its actions in Ukraine. On Saturday, Russia’s defense ministry tried to counter the dominant international narrative by raising the specter of Ukraine again, which puts up false flags and misinformation.
A ministry spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said Ukrainian security services were preparing a “cynical staged” media operation in Irpin, another city near Kyiv. Konashenkov said the plan was to show – incorrectly, he said – more civilian casualties at the hands of the Russians and to stage the murder of a fake Russian intelligence team that intended to kill witnesses. Allegations cannot be verified independently.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nechamer said during a visit to Kyiv on Saturday that he expected more EU sanctions against Russia, but he defended his country’s previous opposition to cutting off Russian gas supplies.
A package of sanctions imposed this week “will not be the last”, the chancellor said, acknowledging that “while people are dying, any sanctions are still insufficient”. Austria is militarily neutral and not a member of NATO.
Johnson’s unannounced visit came a day after the United Kingdom pledged an additional £ 100m ($ 130m) of high-quality military equipment to Ukraine.
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Anna reported from Bucha, Ukraine. Robert Burns in Washington, D.C., Jill Lawless and Danica Kirk in London, and Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed to the report.
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