After deliberate airstrikes on an air raid shelter and a maternity hospital in Mariupol, the massacres in Bucha and other Ukrainian cities previously occupied by Russian troops, widespread looting and torture of civilians, the Russian army and the country’s political-military leadership have committed yet another bloody war crime.
Russian troops attacked central train station in Kramatorsk at approx 11.00 AM Friday, leaving 52 dead and about a hundred injured. The station was being used by civilians trying to evacuate and is the latest evidence that Russians are deliberately targeting civilians
Read more: Pentagon confirms Russians fired Tochka-U missile at Kramatorsk train station
The Russian authorities, consistent with their long-standing policies and traditions, have denied carrying out the strike and suggested that Ukraine was responsible.
A pro-Kremlin Telegram channel posted a warning Thursday night to those trying to leave Kramatorsk to avoid using rail.
“I advise citizens who are now evacuating from Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and nearby settlements not to leave cities on railway transport,” said the post, which was still up Friday after the attack.
Minutes after the attack, another pro-Kremlin Telegram channel posted a video footage from Kramatorsk rail station, with a subtitle saying “the strike was targeted at a consolidation of Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters”.
Russia initially announced that it had carried out a “successful strike,” and retracted that only after reports emerged that civilians had been killed. Russia’s Defense Ministry denied that Russia was involved in "an alleged missile attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk", claiming that there were no Russian "firing missions" in the area and the wreckage was of a Tochka-U missile "used by Ukrainian Armed Forces only".
The Russian statement is in line with a consistent policy of blanket denial that had long preceded its war against Ukraine.
The claims that the Russian army has retired its stockpile of Tochka-U missiles are debunked by a multiplicity of video footages featuring these missiles, carrying Russian military insignia, being transported and deployed to positions for attacks on Ukraine.
The Conflict Intelligence Team reported last month that Russia had started using Tochka-U missiles in Ukraine, geolocating video and photos of fragments of the missile taken March 6 in the village of Desnyanka near Chernihiv.
❗️Tochka-U missile system is being transported to the Ukrainian border.17:00 (Minsk time). 5 units of military equipment are moving along the R-35 highway from Brahin towards the border. There are also 2 units of Tochka-U. pic.twitter.com/W5M6Frtvta— Belarusian Hajun project (@MotolkoHelp) March 7, 2022
Belarusian military tracking group MotolkoHelp reported that about 30 Russian Tochka-U missile launch systems were spotted in southern Belarus last month.
A missile that killed 52 people at the Kramatorsk train station was emblazoned with the words “For the children” in Russian, which is a suggestion that the attack was meant as revenge for Russian children. These words, however, should have been changed for “Against the children”, considering that the attack apparently was deliberately targeted against civilians.
Update as of Saturday mording: The strike had claimed the lives of 52 people, of whom 38 died immediately on site and 14 died while treated in hospital. Among the 109 people injured were at least 16 children, 46 women and 36 men.
Read more: By Attacking Ukraine, Russia has Given an Ultimatum to the World
