Russian attack kills 22 civilians: Ukraine

Kyiv, Aug 25: At least 22 people were killed and dozens wounded in a Russian rocket strike on a Ukrainian train station on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as his nation marked the anniversary of its independence from Moscow-dominated Soviet rule.

 

 

 

Zelensky had warned on Tuesday of the risk of "repugnant Russian provocations" on Independence Day, which by chance was also six months since Russian forces invaded Ukraine, touching off Europe's most devastating conflict since World War Two.

 

 

 

In a video address to the United Nations Security Council, Zelenskiy said the rockets hit a train in the small town of Chaplyne, some 145 km (90 miles) west of Russian-occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Four carriages were on fire, he said. "Chaplyne is our pain today. As of this moment, there are 22 dead," Zelensky said in a later evening video address, adding Ukraine would make Russia take responsibility for everything it had done. "We will without any doubt evict the invaders from our land. No trace of this evil will remain in our free Ukraine," he said. Celebrations of the Aug. 24 public holiday were canceled, but many Ukrainians marked the occasion by wearing embroidered shirts typical of the national dress. After days of warnings that Moscow could use Independence Day to fire more missiles into major urban centers, the second-biggest city Kharkiv was under curfew, following months of frequent bombardment. Air raid sirens blared at least seven times in the capital Kyiv during the day though no attacks transpired. In an emotional speech to compatriots earlier in the day, Zelenskiy said Ukraine was "reborn" when Russia invaded and that it would eventually drive out Russian forces completely. "A new nation appeared in the world on Feb. 24 at 4 in the morning. It was not born, but reborn. A nation that did not cry, scream or take fright. One that did not flee. Did not give up. And did not forget," he said, speaking in front of Kyiv's main monument to independence in his trademark combat fatigues. Zelensky and his wife, Olena Zelenska, joined religious leaders for service in Kyiv's 11th-century St. Sophia cathedral and laid flowers at a memorial to fallen soldiers. The 44-year-old leader said Ukraine would recapture Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

 

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"We will not sit down at the negotiating table out of fear, with a gun pointed at our heads. For us, the most terrible iron is not missiles, aircraft, and tanks, but shackles," he said. In its evening update, Ukraine's army high command said Russian air and missile strikes on military and civilian targets alike continued through Wednesday. "Today was rich with air raid sirens," it said in a note without giving further details.