A Russian missile attack killed 22 civilians and set fire to a passenger train in eastern Ukraine as the country commemorated Independence Day under heavy shelling, Kiev officials said. Ahead of Wednesday’s 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence from Moscow-dominated Soviet rule, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of the risk of “vile Russian provocations” and public celebrations were cancelled.
The holiday also coincided with six months since Russian forces invaded Ukraine, setting off Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. In a speech to the UN Security Council, Zelensky said the missiles hit the train in the small town of Chaplyne, about 145 km (90 miles) west of Russian-occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Chaplyne is our pain today. At the moment there are 22 dead,” he said in an evening video address, adding that Ukraine will hold Russia responsible for everything it has done.
Zelensky aide Kyrylo Tymoshenko later said that Russian forces fired on Chaplin twice. A boy was killed in the first attack when a rocket hit his house, and 21 people died later when rockets hit the station and set fire to five carriages, he said in a statement. The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russia denies targeting civilians. A Russian missile attack on a train station full of civilians in Ukraine fits a pattern of atrocities.
We will continue, together with partners from around the world, to stand by Ukraine and seek accountability from Russian officials,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter. On the Ukrainian holiday, the Russian army avoided Kiev and focused on frontline cities such as Kharkiv, Mykolaiv ., Nikopol and Dnipro with artillery attacks, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said.
NO PUBLIC CELEBRATION
In addition, Kyiv has provided information to international legal authorities about Russian plans, described by UN officials on Tuesday, to bring captured Ukrainian fighters from the Azov Regiment to justice in Mariupol, officials said. The port city fell to Russian forces in April after weeks of intense shelling when they surrounded Ukrainian holding points at the Azovstal steel plant. Presidential adviser Arestovych said Zelensky made it clear that Kyiv would “never, ever” consider peace talks with Moscow if the trials continued. A spokesman for US Secretary of State Ned Price said an illegal trial would amount to “a travesty of justice”.
MISSILE ATTACKS FAR FROM THE FRONT
Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian drone in the Vinnytsia region, while several Russian missiles landed in the Khmelnytskyi region, regional authorities said – both west of Kiev and hundreds of kilometers from the front lines. Russia has repeatedly denied that its forces are targeting civilian targets. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told a meeting in Uzbekistan that Moscow had deliberately slowed down what it described as a “special military operation” in Ukraine to avoid civilian casualties.
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