About 30 people killed in Russian strike on a packed train station in eastern Ukraine

April 8th, 2022

Personal belongings of victims and burned vehicles are seen after an alleged rocket attack Friday at the railway station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, Ukraine.
Herve Bar / Herve Bar

Updated April 8, 2022 at 7:07 AM ET

About 30 people have been killed after a Russian missile hit a train station in Eastern Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian government.

In a statement, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, said the station was full of people trying to evacuate when it was allegedly hit by a missile. In his statement, Krylenko says the missile, an Iskander, was loaded with cluster munitions. NPR has not been able to verify that independently.

Photos shared by Krylenko show the station on fire and bloodied bodies strewn amid abandoned luggage.

Ukraine says Russian troops have retreated from the capital region and are regrouping in Belarus, and will move on Eastern Ukraine soon.

When those attacks begin, regional authorities warn, civilians may not have a chance to flee, so they have been urging civilians in Donbas and Kharkiv regions to evacuate. From the beginning of this conflict, trains have been used to carry millions of Ukrainians out of country.

In his own statement, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said rescue workers were on the scene and that more than 100 people were injured. “This is an evil that has no limits,” he said. “And if it is not punished it will never stop.”