Kramatorsk train station hit by rocket
Thousands of people were waiting at a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Friday when a rocket attack killed dozens, including children, and possibly, Ukrainian officials said. Injuring hundreds of others.
At least 39 people were killed and between 87 and 300 injured, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a Telegram post. Ukrainian officials previously estimated that about 30 people were killed in the attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media that thousands of people were in the station at the time of the strike.
“The inhuman Russians have not changed their methods. Without the strength or courage to stand up against us on the battlefield, they are brutally destroying civilians,” the president said on social media. “This is an evil that knows no bounds. And if it goes unpunished, it never stops.”
The Russian Defense Ministry denied targeting the post in Kramatorsk, a city in the Donetsk region controlled by the Ukrainian government. The station was used to evacuate civilians. On Friday, nearly 4,000 civilians were present at the stationaccording to the office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and children were also killed, The National Police of Ukraine said.
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Latest developments
►The European Union’s ambassador to Ukraine has returned to the country’s capital, Kyiv, showing improved security in the region. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced the news on Friday in Kyiv, where he and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held talks with Zelenskyy.
►Ten humanitarian corridors across the three regions opened on Friday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement.
► As evidence of Russian military atrocities in Ukraine, UN General Assembly on Thursday voted to suspend Russia from the organization’s Human Rights Council. The vote was 93-24 with 58 abstentions.
► US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin say Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “probably abandoned” the attempt to capture Kyiv, noting that Russia has shifted its focus to eastern and southern Ukraine
UN humanitarian chief ‘not optimistic’ about ceasefire
UN humanitarian chief ‘not optimistic’ that a ceasefire will be reached in the context gather evidence of Russian military atrocities in Ukraine.
Deputy Secretary Martin Griffiths told the Associated Press on Thursday that the two sides “have very little trust in each other”. The two countries held peace talks last week in Turkey but largely failed to produce a breakthrough – Russian President Vladimir Putin had rattled expectations even before the talks began.
On Thursday, both the US and the European Union escalated sanctions on Russia: the US Senate unanimously backed banning oil imports from Russia and ending normal trade relations with the country, while European Union nations agreed to new sanctions against Russia, including a ban on its coal imports.
The United Nations General Assembly also adopted a US-initiated resolution to suspend Russia from participating in the world organization’s Human Rights Council amid mounting evidence of Russian military atrocities in Ukraine. . The vote was 93-24 with 58 abstentions.
“War criminals have no place in UN agencies that aim to protect human rights,” Ukraine Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya wrote after the vote. “Grateful to all the Member States who supported the relevant UNGA resolution and chose the right side of history.”
Russians eye Donbas region in ‘next pivotal battle of war’
As they left Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, Russian forces left a trail of terror after weeks of siege: ruined buildings, streets littered with destroyed cars, and people in dire need of food. and other aid. And yet, the Russian army withdrew after encountering fierce resistance on the battlefields.
Now that Moscow is turning its attention to the eastern Donbas region, what can be expected in the industrial heart of Ukraine?
Ukrainian and Western officials say Russia plans to encircle tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops in the Donbas by moving from Izyum, near Kharkiv in the north, and from besieged Mariupol in the south. Time will depend on how quickly Russia can capture the southern port city, which has been reduced to ruins after weeks of bombardment but has yet to fall into the hands of invading forces. Russia also needs to replenish its forces that have been withdrawn from Kyiv and other areas in the north.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said in an analysis that the Russian military will likely attempt to advance from Izyum to capture the strategic city of Slovyansk and link up with other Russian forces in the Donbas in accordance with What it said: “Probably will prove to be the next pivotal battle of the war in Ukraine. ”
Injured Fox News reporter ‘lucky to be here’, recalls colleagues killed in Ukraine
Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall shared his first update on social media since he was injured last month in Ukraine, and paid tribute to two colleagues who were killed in the attack. .
“In short, I’ve lost half of my leg on one side and the other on the other. One hand is reattached, one eye no longer works and my hearing is pretty much impaired, but all I can feel is all. What a blessing to be here – and the very people who brought me here are amazing!” Hall said on Twitter with a photo of himself on a stretcher in a since-deleted tweet.
Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, journalist Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova and Hall were traveling in a car in Horenka, a village nearly 20 miles from Kyiv, when they were hit by a fire on March 14. Zakrzewski and Kuvshynova were killed. Hall was evacuated a few days later.
Hall says for Zakrzewski, “work is his joy and his joy is contagious.”
– Jeanine Santucci
Contribution: Associated Press