Kramatorsk railway station attack
Part of the Eastern Ukraine offensive
Missile debris with inscription on it 'за детей' - 'in support of children'[1]
Kramatorsk railway station attack (Donetsk Oblast)
Location	Kramatorsk railway station, Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
Coordinates	48°43′33.58″N 37°32′35.24″E / 48.7259944°N 37.5431222°E / 48.7259944; 37.5431222
Date	8 April 2022 ~10:24[2] (UTC+3)
Weapons	Tochka-U ballistic missiles, cluster munitions (per Ukraine)
Deaths	52+
Injured	87–400[3]
Perpetrators	Russian Armed Forces (according to Ukraine) Ukrainian Armed Forces (according to Russia)

A missile attack on Kramatorsk railway station in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, took place on 8 April 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to reports, at least 52 people were killed^[4] and 87 to 300 people were injured.^[5] Some initial reports in Russian state media said that the missile had hit a military target. Later, the Russian government denied responsibility for the attack.^[6]

Background

On 24 February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces allied with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics led an offensive to make the republics gain full control of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, capturing numerous towns and laying siege to cities such as Mariupol and Chernihiv. The Armed Forces of Ukraine countered the offensive, relying heavily on troops from Sloviansk and Kramatorsk to act as reinforcements.^[7]

Attack

As estimated by BBC and CBS News, 1,000 to 4,000 people^[8][9] were reported to have been present at the station waiting for evacuation due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The two missiles hit near the station building^[7] around 10:24 (UTC+3) when the first videos of missile launch circulated on Telegram and were noticed by Ukrainian media,^[10][11] approximately 20 minutes before first reports of the attack.^[12] A witness and World Central Kitchen aid worker said he had heard "between five and ten explosions" during the airstrike.^[13]

Reports described the scene as extremely bloody. Authorities said many people lost limbs in the explosion. The Guardian and Radio Free Europe both noted witness reports that blood and corpses were lying across the station, sprawled over the floor with their luggage.^[14][15] Four cars were also destroyed during the bombing.^[16]

According to early reports, at least 39 people were found dead at the scene, but the minimum casualty estimate was later raised to 52 as more survivors died of their injuries in the hospital. At least five of the dead were children.^[4]

The missiles used were initially identified as the 9K720 Iskander ballistic missiles,^[17] with governor Pavlo Kyrylenko later stating that Tochka-U missiles armed with cluster munitions had been used in the attack.^[13]

One of the rockets had the words "for children" (Russian: ЗА ДЕТЕЙ) written on it in Russian.^[18] CBS News interpreted the translation as more likely having the meaning "on behalf of children" rather than suggesting an intentional motive to target children.^[8] Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty translated it as "for our children."^[15] The BBC states that the message means "for or on behalf of the children".^[19]

Response

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Russia as "an evil with no limits" in response to the attack.^[20]

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who visited Ukraine on the day of the attack, condemned the attack as "despicable".^[21] French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian described the attack as a "crime against humanity", saying it could not remain unpunished, while British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace condemned the attack as a war crime.^[22]

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres described the missile strike as a "completely unacceptable" incident.^[23]

Oleksandr Kamyshin, chairman of Ukrainian Railways, described the event as being a "targeted blow to the passenger infrastructure of the railway and the residents of the city of Kramatorsk".^[24] The Security Service of Ukraine opened criminal proceedings under Article 438 of the Criminal Code.^[25]

Russia denied any involvement, asserting it was a false flag operation by Ukraine.^[26] Several Telegram channels, which Newsweek linked to pro-Russian media outlets, allegedly reported earlier in the day that Russia had launched a successful missile attack on "Ukrainian forces" at the Kramatorsk station. When it became apparent that the attack killed a large number of civilians instead, the announcements were removed, and Russia started calling the attack a hoax.^[27] The Russian Ministry of Defence asserted that the attack was carried out by Ukrainian forces and originated from Dobropillia, southwest of Kramatorsk.^[28] They also claimed that they no longer use Tochka-U missiles; Amnesty International and the Twitter account "Conflict Intelligence Team" had however previously documented their use by Russian forces in Ukraine prior to the strike on Kramatorsk.^[29] The Russian Ministry of Defence reported bombing several other railway stations in the Donbass region with "high-precision air-based missiles" on the same day that Kramatorsk was hit.^[30]

Royal United Services Institute analyst Justin Bronk said that Russia aims at damaging Ukrainian transport infrastructure in order to make it difficult for Ukrainian troops to move around. He also suggested that Russia opted for that particular type of missile due to its presence in the Ukrainian army's arsenal, in order to "muddy the waters".^[22]

References