'One more atrocity': Russians slammed for Kramatorsk station attack, accused of using cluster munitions

The governor of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region accused Russian forces of firing cluster munitions at a rail station in the city of Kramatorsk in an attack that killed at least 39 people.

Head of Donetsk regional administration Pavlo Kyrylenko says Kramatorsk station was actually hit by Iskander ballistic missile with cluster munitions. “There were thousands in station at the time of attack — this was a gathering point for evacuation to safer parts of Ukraine.”

— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) April 8, 2022

Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko published a photograph online showing several bodies on the ground beside piles of suitcases and other luggage, but did not share what evidence he had of the type of weapon used for the attack. 

"If at the beginning they exclusively ... targeted railway tracks, then now it's not only tracks, but also firing a missile containing cluster munitions which are meant for people. This is absolute confirmation that this (strike) was intended against civilians," Kyrylenko said in an online briefing.

The Russian missile attack on the Kramatorsk railway station, a hub for civilian evacuations, which left dozens of people killed and more than 100 injured, is one more atrocity committed by Russia in Ukraine. The world will hold Putin to account. pic.twitter.com/ImvaETl3GS

— U.S. Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) April 8, 2022

The US embassy in Ukraine described the attack on Friday as "one more atrocity" committed by Russian troops in Ukraine.

"The Russian missile attack on the Kramatorsk railway station, a hub for civilian evacuations, which left dozens of people killed and more than 100 injured, is one more atrocity committed by Russia in Ukraine. The world will hold (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to account," it said on Twitter.

Russia denies targeting civilians and its defence ministry has said its forces were not behind the Kramatorsk attack and instead accused Ukraine of staging the attack on the station.

"The purpose of the Kyiv regime's attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk was to disrupt the mass exit of residents from the city in order to use them as a 'human shield' to defend the positions of Ukraine's armed forces," the defence ministry said in a statement.

The ministry claimed that the attack was carried out by Ukraine's forces from the town of Dobropillya, some 45 kilometres (27 miles) southwest of Kramatorsk.

"Tochka-U tactical missiles, the fragments of which were found near the railway station of Kramatorsk, are used only by the Ukrainian armed forces," the ministry added.

Earlier on Friday, the ministry denied it was behind the attack that killed at least 39 people, including at least four children, and said it was a "provocation" from the Ukrainian side.