VOA News
Ukrainian state railway officials say more than 30 people were killed and 100 were wounded Friday in a Russian rocket attack on a railway station in east Ukraine that was being used to evacuate civilians, as the region readies for another major Russian offensive.
Two rockets are said to have struck the station in Kramatorsk. Reuters reports that the governor of the Donetsk region said thousands of people were at the station trying to leave for safer areas.
The European Union formally enacted more sanctions on Russia Friday, as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell traveled to Kyiv in a show of support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The new measures include bans on the importation of coal, wood and chemicals and a block on all transactions with four Russian banks.
Russian troops in Ukraine have fully withdrawn from northern Ukraine to Belarus and Russia, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Friday. The intelligence update said some of the forces likely will be deployed to east Ukraine to fight in the Donbas, a Ukrainian region bordering Russia.
JUST IN: #Russian forces in northern #Ukraine “have now fully withdrawn from Ukraine to #Belarus & #Russia” per assessment by @DefenceHQ intel, says @MickSmeathUK
“At least some of these forces will be transferred to East Ukraine to fight in the #Donbas“
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) April 8, 2022
Meanwhile, Russia provided its most stark assessment of its invasion, admitting Friday a “tragedy” of rising troop losses and feeling the economic sting from a wide range of sanctions.
The White House called out Friday the “horrific and devastating images” of the train station attack. White House spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield noted in an interview with CNN the U.S. will continue to support Ukraine against Russia’s assault.
Late Thursday Zelenskyy said the situation in the town of Borodianka is worse than that in Bucha. Borodianka is about 60 kilometers northwest of Kyiv. Zelenskyy said “it is significantly more dreadful there. Even more victims from the Russian occupiers.”
Stories of atrocities inflicted on northern Ukrainians by the Russians have emerged, prompting more countries to expand and further tighten sanctions on Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Thursday that more credible reports of Russian atrocities against Ukrainian civilians are coming out of the war-ravaged country and vowed that “one day, somehow, there will be accountability” for Moscow.
The top U.S. diplomat, after meeting with an array of NATO and allied foreign ministers in Brussels, said, “The revulsion at what the Russian government is doing is palpable.”
Russia has denied killing civilians in Bucha.
Blinken said the U.S. and its NATO allies remain wholly committed to supplying Ukraine with more arms to defend itself against Russia.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed new Western sanctions against Russia but called for further measures, including a full embargo on Russian oil and gas sales, blocking all Russian banks from the SWIFT banking system and closing ports to Russian vessels and goods.
Japan is expelling eight Russian diplomats and trade officials. A Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman called Russia’s actions in Ukraine “categorically unacceptable” and said the action was taken “as a result of the country’s comprehensive judgment.”
There is a mounting death toll from the six-week-long war, including Ukrainian civilians and fighters from both sides.
“We have significant losses of troops, and it’s a huge tragedy for us,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the British channel Sky News in an interview. (VOA)
– ag
