Thousands of people were gathered in and around a train station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine when it was attacked with a rocket Friday. At least 39 are dead, report local officials, with at least 80 injured. Kramatorsk is a staging point for refugees fleeing the east of the country, which is under heavy Russian attack after its retreat from Kiev.
The city has turned into an evacuation center, offering a chance to about 8,000 people a day — mainly women and children — to flee Russia's war, Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko said. Photos released by Zelenskiy and the Defense Ministry showed victims lying scattered around among packed suitcases. The attack drew strong condemnation from Ukraine and the European Union.
"Having neither forces nor bravery to face us on the battlefield, they are cynically destroying civilian population," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Facebook.
There seems little doubt at all that it was an intentional attack by Russian forces on gathered civilians. Some reports suggest it was targeting "ammunition". EU President Ursula von der Leyen described it as "despicable." Ukraine's defense ministry posted photos of the scene, including dead bodies.
