By Katie Davis
THIRTY people have been killed and more than 100 injured after a Russian rocket hit a Ukrainian train station as civilians desperately tried to evacuate to safer parts of the country.
Horror pictures show bodies strewn across the ground beside abandoned luggage at Kramatorsk railway station in eastern Ukraine amid reports the site has been blasted by Russian troops.
More than 30 people have reportedly been killed[/caption]
The state railway company said two Russian rockets struck the station, which is used for the evacuation of civilians from areas under bombardment by Russian forces.
More than 30 people were killed and over 100 were wounded, it’s reported, as shocking footage shows smoke billowing from the scene.
Volodymyr Zelensky slammed the attack in a social media post, saying: “This is an evil that has no limits.”
“The occupiers hit the Kramatorsk railway station with a Point-U, where thousands of peaceful Ukrainians were waiting to be evacuated,” the Ukrainian President wrote on Instagram.
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“About 30 people died, about 100 people were injured to varying degrees.
“Police and rescuers are already on the scene. Russian non-humans do not abandon their methods.
“Lacking the strength and courage to stand up to us on the battlefield, they are cynically destroying the civilian population.
“This is an evil that has no limits. And if it is not punished, it will never stop.”
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Reuters news agency said it could not immediately verify the information. Russia did not immediately comment on the reports of the attack and the casualty toll.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, said thousands of people had been at the station at the time the rockets struck.
“The ‘Rashists’ (‘Russian fascists’) knew very well where they were aiming and what they wanted: they wanted to sow panic and fear, they wanted to take as many civilians as possible,” he said.
Kyrylenko published a photograph online showing several bodies on the ground beside piles of suitcases and other luggage.
Footage showed crowds of people at the station on Thursday trying to evacuate[/caption]
Armed police wearing flak jackets stood beside them.
Another unverified photo showed rescue services tackling what appeared to be a fire, with a pall of grey smoke rising into the air.
“Two rockets hit Kramatorsk railway station,” Ukrainian Railways said in a statement.
It later added: “According to operational data, more than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in the rocket attack on Kramatorsk railway station.”
Three trains carrying evacuees were blocked in the same region of Ukraine on Thursday after an air strike on the line, according to the head of Ukrainian Railways.
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Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have been regrouping for a new offensive, and that Moscow plans to seize as much territory as it can in the eastern part of Ukraine known as Donbas bordering Russia.
Local authorities in some areas have been urging civilians to leave while it is still possible, and relatively safe, to do so.
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Category: News, World News, Ukraine war
