A Russian missile attack on a train station has killed 25 people, according to Ukraine, on the day that marks six months since the start of the invasion of Moscow.
Five of the victims of the attack in the eastern town of Chaplyne were burned to death in a vehicle, officials said. Two boys, aged six and eleven, were also killed.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported on the strike to a session of the UN Security Council. 31 other people were injured. Russia said it hit a military train that killed hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers.
“As a result of a direct hit of an Iskander missile at a military train at the Chaplyne railway station in the Dnipropetrovsk region, more than 200 reserve soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and 10 units of military equipment were destroyed on the way to the combat zones in the Donbass,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine did not mention any military casualties in the strike.
Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilian infrastructure. On Thursday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, urged the Russian president to end armed attacks against Ukraine.
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said he was aware of the attack on Chaplyne, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, as he prepared to speak with the Security Council, adding: “This is how Russia prepared for the UN Security Council meeting.”
In April, a strike at another train station killed more than 50 people.
Ukraine celebrated its annual Independence Day on Wednesday. Zelensky had previously stated that Russia would do something “cruel” to disrupt the celebrations.
He previously accused Moscow troops of turning the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant into a “war zone” endangering the power plant and the European population, leaving the world “on the brink of a radiation catastrophe”.
On Thursday, the city of Enerhodar, where the plant is located, was “on the verge of a humanitarian disaster” after running out of electricity and water “due to enemy bombing,” exiled mayor Dmytro Orlov said on Telegram. It is unclear whether these outages affected the nuclear power plant.
Russian media, citing Russian-installed authorities, reported that the occupied cities of Melitopol and Kherson, as well as other population centers in the Kherson region, were without electricity.
Around the world, supporters took to the streets on Wednesday to celebrate Ukraine’s independence. World leaders have also stepped up to support the beleaguered nation.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared in Kyiv on an unannounced trip to show support for his country and announced £54m ($63.5m) in new military aid – a number reported in US President Joe Biden’s announcement was eclipsed by an additional $3bn (£2.5bn).
But it was relatively calm in the streets of Kyiv.
Ukraine had prohibited major meetings and events due to the fears that Russia can tackle such civilian meetings. A warning from the United States followed that each of its citizens left before the birthday.
Some have gathered in Khreshchatyk Street anyway to examine the selection of recorded Russian tanks and armored vehicles instead of the usual Ukrainian parade.
Between his political speeches, President Zelensky and his wife also participated in a commemoration for the soldiers who have fallen and civilians of the war and put yellow and blue flowers on the wall of memory of Kyiv.
