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UN: Deadly Ukraine Railway Station Attack 'Completely Unacceptable'

by VOA News

   The United Nations called Friday's deadly attack on a Ukrainian railway
   station and other attacks "completely unacceptable" and "gross
   violations of international humanitarian law and international human
   rights law, for which the perpetrators must be held accountable."

   U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric reiterated Secretary-General
   Antonio Guterres' call for an "immediate end to this brutal war."

   Ukrainian state railway officials said 50 people were killed, including
   five children, and at least 87 were wounded in a missile attack at a
   station in east Ukraine that was being used to evacuate civilians.

   Two missiles are said to have struck the station in Kramatorsk. The
   governor of the Donetsk region said thousands of people were at the
   station trying to leave for safer areas as the region readied for a
   major Russian offensive, Reuters reported.

   Ukrainian officials blamed Russia for the attack. Russia has denied
   responsibility.

   Also on Friday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with
   Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov about "the needs of the
   Ukrainian military to defend its country," VOA national security
   correspondent Jeff Seldin reported.

   Austin praised Slovakia's announcement on Friday that it would send an
   S-300 air defense system to Ukraine, calling the system "a critical
   defensive capability."

   During a Friday briefing, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the U.S.
   would temporarily send batteries of Patriot missiles to Slovakia to
   replace the S-300s. They will be manned by Americans.

   He added that the biggest need for the Ukrainian military is "literally
   millions of rounds" of small arms ammunition.

   "We want to see Mr. Putin and the Russian army lose this fight inside
   Ukraine '¦ we want to see Ukraine whole again," he said.

   Russia's Defense Ministry rejected reports that Russia was responsible
   for the attack on the train station in Kramatorsk, describing them as a
   "provocation."

   In a statement, the Russian ministry claimed that the missile used in
   the strike, the Tochka-U, is used only by Ukraine's armed forces and
   that Russian troops had not made any strikes against Kramatorsk.

   However, the website [1]Defence Blog reported on March 31 that a convoy
   of Russian military vehicles carrying the recently retired missiles --
   known in the West as SS-21s -- had been photographed as part of the
   Ukraine invasion force.

   Kirby also cast doubt on Russia's claim it was not involved in the
   attack.

   "We find unconvincing Russian claims that they weren't involved," he
   said.

   Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the attack "deliberate
   slaughter."

   The European Union formally enacted more sanctions on Russia Friday, as
   European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign
   policy chief Josep Borrell traveled to Kyiv in a show of support for
   Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

   The new measures include bans on imports of coal, wood and chemicals
   and a block on all transactions with four Russian banks.

   While in Ukraine, the EU officials also went to Bucha, site of an
   alleged Russian massacre of civilians. Ukraine's government blames
   Russian troops, which recently withdrew from the area, for the
   killings. Russia denies that its forces target civilians.

   Von der Leyen said the killings showed the "cruel face" of Russian
   President Vladimir Putin's army, Reuters reported. "The unthinkable has
   happened here," she said.

   Russian troops have fully withdrawn from northern Ukraine and moved
   into Belarus and Russia, Britain's Defense Ministry said Friday. The
   intelligence update said some of the forces would likely be deployed to
   eastern Ukraine to fight in the Donbas, a Ukrainian region bordering
   Russia.

   On Thursday, Russia provided its most stark assessment of its invasion,
   admitting a "tragedy" of rising troop losses and feeling the economic
   sting from a wide range of sanctions.

   The White House on Friday brought attention to the "horrific and
   devastating images" of the train station attack. White House
   Communications Director Kate Bedingfield noted in an interview with CNN
   that the U.S. would continue to support Ukraine against Russia's
   assault.

   Late Thursday, Zelenskyy said the situation in the town of Borodyanka,
   about 60 kilometers northwest of Kyiv, was worse than that in Bucha.

   "It is significantly more dreadful there. Even more victims from the
   Russian occupiers," Zelenskyy said.

   Stories of Russia inflicting atrocities on northern Ukrainians have
   emerged, prompting more countries to expand and further tighten
   sanctions on Russia.

   U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Thursday that more
   credible reports of Russian atrocities against Ukrainian civilians were
   coming out of the war-ravaged country, and he vowed that "one day,
   somehow, there will be accountability" for Moscow.

   Blinken said the U.S. and its NATO allies remain wholly committed to
   supplying Ukraine with more arms to defend itself against Russia.

   Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba welcomed new Western sanctions
   against Russia but called for further measures, including a full
   embargo on Russian oil and gas sales, blocking all Russian banks from
   the SWIFT banking system, and closing ports to Russian vessels and
   goods.

   The death toll of the six-week-long war is mounting and includes
   fighters from both sides and Ukrainian civilians.

   VOA's Margaret Besheer and Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. The
   Associated Press and Reuters supplied some information for this story.

References

   1. https://defence-blog.com/russian-tochka-u-ballistic-missiles-return-to-service-amid-ukraine-war/