Ukraine: Rocket attack on the Kramatorsk train station – “sheer terror”

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The station forecourt in Kramatorsk.

On Friday morning this place was still packed.

It is a hub for people who want to flee eastern Ukraine.

Now Kramatorsk is the scene of another escalation of the war.

Christoph Reuter:

»About an hour ago, several rockets hit here, killing 30 people according to the Ukrainian authorities.

Inside we still see pools of blood, people's luggage, children's toys lying around.

The last belongings people wanted to take with them.”

Ukraine blames Russian troops for the attack, which Moscow denies.

The information on the fatalities varies.

Officials are now talking about dozens of deaths and 300 people are said to have been injured.

Aleksander Kochura, press officer for the authorities in Kramatorsk:

»There were many dead and injured, many ambulances and police officers were there, as well as fire engines.

The cars were still burning, it was hell on earth.

All had shrapnel injuries.

These shrapnel are all over the place and people have been injured by them.

These are the pieces that killed them.

Almost 40 people have been killed.«

Particularly perfidious: the fact that so many people had gathered at the train station on Friday was already due to Russian attacks.

Christoph Reuter:

»Yesterday rockets from the Russian army destroyed the tracks and blocked all evacuation trains.

In this respect, the number of people waiting here was even larger than usual.«

After the attack, there was still a meter-long rocket on the forecourt of the station.

The investigations are still ongoing.

Christoph Reuter:

»We don't know exactly what rocket hit here, but rows of burned-out cars can be seen in front of the station.

The area is cordoned off, everyone is nervous because you don't know if the station might be fired on again."

The attack fits into a series of atrocities of this war.

It has only been known for a few days that Putin's troops have probably deliberately killed hundreds of civilians around Kyiv.

The attack on the train station in Kramatorsk now directly means the next level of escalation.

Christoph Reuter:

»What happened here can no longer be described in any other way than terror.

Sheer, coolly implemented terror.«