Updated:
Friday, April 08, 2022 11:42 am
Published: 08.04.2022 07:49
At least 30 people were killed and more than 100 were injured in a Russian missile attack at the Kramatorsk railway station in the Donetsk region. Civilians tried to flee to safer areas after the Ukrainian government warned that Russia was stepping up its offensive in the east.
As the state railway announced, two Russian missiles hit the city train stationused for the evacuation of civilians from bombed areas.
For his part, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk region, noted that there were thousands of people at the station at the time of the attack. “The ‘Rashists’ (‘Russian Fascists’) knew very well what they were aiming for and what they wanted: they wanted to sow panic and fear, They wanted to take as many civilians with them as possible,” he said in this regard.
In the images that accompany these lines, a frightening scene is shown: the bodies of several people lie on the ground next to the suitcases they tried to escape with the Russian invasion.
As in previous attacks, pro-Russian militias have accused Kyiv of committing the attack against the Kramatorsk station during the evacuation of civilians. “The Ukrainian army attacked Kramatorsk with rockets,” the militia’s Territorial Defense Bureau said.
According to pro-Russian separatists, the attack was carried out using Tochka-U tactical missiles. In this sense, Russian pro-government sources have assured that the Russian army does not have any missiles of this type.
Ukraine had warned of a new offensive in the east of the country
This morning, the latest war report from the Ukrainian Army’s High General Staff assured that the Kremlin was preparing for a new offensive while it concentrated at the siege of the coastal city of Mariupol, in the Sea of Azov. “The main efforts of the Russian invaders remain focused on the capture of Mariupol, the offensive in the territory of the city of Izyum (on the Donets River, in the Kharkov region) and in the direction of Donetsk”, in the east of Ukraine, this statement indicates.
In addition, they assured that in the last few hours “seven enemy attacks on the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk governorates” have been repelled. According to the Ukrainian military high command, they destroyed four tanks, two artillery systemsten armored units and eleven Russian vehicles.
For his part Russian troops continue to blockade the city of Kharkov and laying minefields to, he says, “stop the advance of Ukrainian troops.” In the city of Izyum, according to the Ukrainian military authority, representatives of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” (self-proclaimed and recognized by Russia) perform the functions of local “police” and carry out “illegal document controls, records of people and population institutions.
According to the Ukrainian government, the Russian units are concentrating on capturing the Control of Popasna and Rubizhne settlements and erect it also over the city of Mariupol.
Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky warned this morning that Russian troops are now more active in the Donbass, in the east of the country, and that they are strengthening for an offensive. In this sense, the Institute for the Study of War (USA) points out that “the Ukrainian armed forces continue to do everything possible to repel the offensive of Russian troops in Donbass”, that “they are becoming more active and are being reinforced by Russia.”
According to this institute, it controls the city of Izyum and the axis with Sloviansk it is essential for the future Russian offensive because otherwise “Russian forces are unlikely to successfully capture the Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts (regions).”
The US believes that Russia will control Mariupol “in a few days”.
This is indicated by the latest analysis by the American institute “Russian forces claimed to have taken the center of Mariupol on April 7″, but that the Ukrainians are “holding positions in the south-west of the city”. He assures, however, that since April 2 there has been no record of fighting in the center of the city.
The United States believes that “Russian forces are likely to cope the capture of Mariupol in the coming days”.
For his part, Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the head of the Presidential Office, warned that Russia had resumed the offensive in Mariupol, but Ukrainian troops were trying to resist.
Arestovych’s comments came after self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic spokesman Eduard Basurin said main fighting in central Mariupol had ended and that they were “gradually” driving Ukrainians into the Azovstal industrial zone.