Zelensky condemns missile strike on Kramatorsk train station as death toll rises

Dylan Stableford
·Senior Writer
·4 min read
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A missile strike Friday on a crowded train station that was being used to evacuate civilians in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, killed at least 50 people, including five children, officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quickly condemned what he called an “inhumane” attack on citizens by the Russian military.

“Without the strength or courage to stand up to us on the battlefield, they are cynically destroying the civilian population,” Zelensky said in a message posted to social media. “This is an evil without limits. And if it is not punished, then it will never stop.”

The Russian Defense Ministry denied responsibility.

Dozens of people in cold weather clothes stand packed on an outdoor train station platform.
People arrive at the train station as they flee the city of Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on April 3. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)

There were about 4,000 civilians in and around the station at the time of the attack, the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general said. Most were women and children.

Photos from the scene showed bodies covered with tarps on the ground and the remnants of a rocket with the words “for the children” painted on it in Russian. According to the Washington Post, “The phrase in Russian connotes ‘revenge for our children,’ apparently in keeping with Moscow’s rationale that the war is being fought to protect the separatist Donbas region and Russia.”

“They knew very well where they were aiming,” said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the province of Donetsk.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, accused Russia of “deliberate slaughter.” “We will bring each war criminal to justice,” he said.

Calcinated cars are pictured outside a train station.
Cars outside the train station in Kramatorsk after it was hit by a rocket attack on Friday. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)

Murat Sahin, a spokesman for UNICEF, said the U.N. children's agency was delivering humanitarian supplies less than a mile from the train station when the attack took place.

"Kramatorsk train station has been the main route out for thousands of families evacuating from Donetsk oblast, which has seen some of the war’s worst destruction, to relatively safer areas in Ukraine," Sahin said. "Civilians, particularly children, must be protected from harm. The killing of children must stop now."

According to an official death toll count from the United Nations, at least 1,626 civilians, including more than 100 children, have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in February. More than 4 million refugees have fled the war-torn country. But officials say the death toll is likely much higher; the mayor of Mariupol said Wednesday that more than 5,000 civilians have been killed in the onslaught.

Two men in black clothes, one with a badge on this sleeve, inspect the remains of a large rocket on a grassy area near a paved area with parked vehicles and buildings in the background.
Ukrainian police in Kramatorsk inspect the remains of a rocket painted with the words "for the children" in Russian on Friday. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)

In an address to the U.N. Security Council earlier this week, Zelensky demanded that Russian officials be tried for war crimes over the slaughter of civilians in Bucha, Ukraine, evidence of which emerged after the withdrawal of Russian forces over the weekend. Zelensky called for trials similar to those held in Nuremberg, Germany, in the late 1940s.

President Biden said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin should be tried for war crimes for the atrocities seen in Bucha. The Biden administration also announced a new round of sanctions targeting Russian banks as well as Putin’s adult daughters.

A woman stands in an empty train car.
A woman stands in a train car after the attack on the train station in Kramatorsk on Friday. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)
A Ukrainian policeman bends over bodies laid on the ground and covered with tarpaulins.
A Ukrainian policeman bends over bodies covered with tarpaulins in Kramatorsk. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)
A stuffed horse with bloodstains on it lies on a surface of bricks.
A stuffed horse with bloodstains on it lies on a platform after Russian shelling at the station in Kramatorsk. (Andriy Andriyenko/AP Photo)
Four soldiers wearing rubber gloves carry a black back between them while others stand nearby on a sidewalk.
Ukrainian soldiers clear out bodies after the attack. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)
Four people stand near destroyed, calcinated cars in a parking area by a sidewalk.
Cars outside the station in Kramatorsk on Friday. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)
A body on an outdoor train platform in front of blue train cars.
A casualty on the platform in the aftermath of the attack. (Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images)
A body lies on the ground covered with plastic sheets.
A body covered with plastic sheets at the station in Kramatorsk. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)