Workers remove the remains of a rocket after the strike. Karim Kader / CNN
Editor’s note: This post contains descriptions that can be frustrating.
Cleaning crews arrived at a train station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, where dozens of Ukrainians were killed in a Russian missile strike on Friday while waiting to flee the fighting.
CNN saw workers wearing plastic gloves collecting scattered human remains. Others were reviewing documents and documents scattered around the station. On the ground lay plastic bags full of food, along with cut-off hats, gloves, and shoes.
Several points of impact were visible, including what appeared to be a direct hit to a car. Next to the rails lay puddles of blood and a dead dog, partially covered with white sheets.
At least 50 people, including five children, were killed in the attack, Ukrainian authorities said on Friday, and dozens more were taken to local hospitals.
The remains of the rocket were taken and transported by specialists.
In the corridor of the station, a pile of abandoned luggage stood unattended. Meanwhile, the streets of Kramatorsk, a city of more than 150,000, looked deserted on Sunday.
Luggage left in the corridor of the station. Karim Kader / CNN
Dozens of people were waiting to leave the city’s bus station. Buses run to Slavyansk, to the north, where trains are still running.
Volunteer Nikolai said he had helped with evacuations since the start of the war. “I was happy to hear that the Russians were leaving the area around Kyiv, but then I saw that they were coming to Donbass. I am very worried, “he said.
Slavyansk residents have been leaving the city in recent days after local authorities warned of a Russian offensive approaching Izyum.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky called the Kramatorsk strike a war crime in a statement Friday, saying it would be investigated in detail.
“This is another Russian war crime for which everyone involved will be held accountable,” he said, adding that Russian state propaganda had tried to blame the Ukrainian armed forces for the attack.
“We expect a firm, global response to this war crime,” Zelenski said. “Like the Bucha massacres, as well as many other Russian war crimes, the missile strike on Kramatorsk must be one of the tribunal’s charges, which will inevitably happen.
Some context: Russian military and senior officials strongly deny attacks on civilians, including claiming – without evidence – that the massacre of civilians in Bucha was staged. The killings of civilians during the Russian occupation of the city have been documented in detail.
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