Ukraine claims that a Russian missile attack on a train station killed 25 people on the sixth-month anniversary of Moscow’s invasion.
Five of the victims of the incident in the eastern town of Chaplyne perished in a vehicle explosion, according to officials. Two boys between the ages of six and eleven were also slain.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the strike during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council. Additional 31 persons were injured.
Russia has so yet made no reaction.
Moscow has denied targeting civilian infrastructure many times. On Thursday, Michelle Bachelet, the UN’s human rights commissioner, urged Russia’s president to cease armed strikes on Ukraine.
Mr. Zelensky stated that he learned of the attack on Chaplyne in the Dnipropetrovsk region as he was ready to address the Security Council, adding, “This is how Russia prepared for the meeting of the UN Security Council.”
“Currently, four-passenger cars are ablaze… the number of fatalities could rise,” he continued.
In April, an attack on another train station resulted in the death of over fifty persons.
Ukraine celebrated its annual independence day on Wednesday, and Mr. Zelensky had previously warned that Russia might do something “cruel” to disturb the festivities.
Earlier, he accused Moscow’s forces of transforming the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor into a “war zone” that endangered the plant and the people of Europe, bringing the globe to the “verge of a nuclear disaster.”
The UN Secretary-General stated at the same meeting that the “senseless war” could cause millions of people in Ukraine and abroad to fall into abject poverty.
Today, people gathered in the streets across the globe to celebrate Ukraine’s independence. World leaders congregated in support of the beleaguered nation to commemorate the event.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a surprise visit to Kyiv to express his country’s support, offering £54m ($63.5m) in new military aid. This amount was eclipsed by US President Joe Biden’s promise of an additional $3bn (£2.5bn).
Support messages come from all around the world, including Australia, Germany, Finland, Poland, and Turkey. Pope Francis called for “concrete efforts” to stop the war and prevent a nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhia nuclear power facility at the Vatican.
However, the streets of Kiev were reasonably calm.
Ukraine had prohibited major meetings and activities out of concern that Russia could target such gatherings of civilians. It followed a warning from the United States for its people to leave the country before the anniversary.
Some nonetheless congregated on Khreshchatyk Street to view the array of captured Russian tanks and armored vehicles displayed instead of the customary Ukrainian parade.
In between his political statements, President Zelensky and his wife laid yellow and blue flowers at Kyiv’s Memory Wall of Dead Defenders to honor the fallen troops and citizens of the war.
This Monday, Ukrainian officials provided the first update on military casualties in some time, claiming that approximately 9,000 soldiers had been killed in the six-month combat, but this figure cannot be independently confirmed.
The Ukrainian leader began the day with a bold national address in which he vowed to reclaim the entire country “without concessions or compromises.”
He stated, “We do not know these words; they were obliterated by missiles on February 24.”
“The enemy believed we would meet them with roses and champagne, but instead they were met with wreaths and Molotov cocktails.”
The day marking six months since the beginning of the invasion passed quietly in Russia.
The BBC’s Will Vernon in Moscow reports that there has been almost no mention of Russia’s six-month “special military operation” on television or from government officials, which may be an indication that authorities do not wish to highlight the lengthy battle.
Russia had first promised a rapid and successful war, but Ukrainian resistance quickly drove Russian forces away from the capital. Months later, Russia redeployed its forces to focus on the eastern breakaway regions where it already enjoyed support. In recent weeks, there has been little movement along the front lines.
Wednesday marked an important milestone in Russia with the arrest of Yevgeny Roizman, one of the country’s last significant opposition lawmakers.
The former mayor of Yekaterinburg was detained on grounds of “discrediting the Russian army,” a crime punishable by up to five years in jail since the invasion of Ukraine began.
As he was being led away, he stated that he was being arrested for uttering the term “the invasion of Ukraine” out loud.
According to human rights attorneys, thousands of individuals have been tried for similar offenses, and the vast majority have been found guilty.
OVD-Info, a human rights organization, reports that more than 16,000 individuals have been detained for protesting against the invasion. These crimes include street demonstrations, social media posts, and merely referring to Russia’s “special military operation” as a war or an invasion.
