Russia's twisted ‘for our children’ message on missile used to kill more than 50 refugees

8 April 2022, 09:49 | Updated: 8 April 2022, 17:28

More than 50 refugees fleeing the warzone in Ukraine have been killed in a rocket strike on a train station in Donetsk.

Two missile strikes hit a railway station in east Ukraine today, as thousands of desperate evacuees tried to reach safer parts of the country. The attack on Kramatorsk left bodies strewn across the floor, lying amongst luggage and children's prams outside the city's busy station.

The wreckage of a large missile was left lying on the grass outside the station. Pictures of the missile show Russian text down the side of its casing, which reads: 'For (our) Children'.

Boris Johnson said the "unconscionable" attack showed the "depth to which Putin's once-vaunted army has sunk" and suggested it constituted a war crime.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mr Johnson said: "It is a war crime to indiscriminately attack civilians and Russia's crimes in Ukraine will not go unnoticed or unpunished."

He announced the UK would send more military equipment to Ukraine

"The UK will send a further £100 million of high-grade military equipment to Ukraine's armed forces, including more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, which fly at three times the speed of sound, another 800 anti-tank missiles and precision munitions capable of lingering in the sky until directed to their target," he said.

More helmets, night vision and body armour will also be sent, Mr Johnson said.

"The Europe we knew just six weeks ago no longer exists," he said.

"Putin's invasion strikes at the very foundation of the security of our continent.

"But his ambition to divide us has demonstrably failed."

The writing on the missile in Ukraine is a revenge message from the pro-Moscow soldiers that launched it who have been targeted by state propaganda making them believe Ukraine is carrying out atrocities against them in the east of the country.

Britain's ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons accused Russian troops of "unspeakable, brutal depravity".

"Marking a missile 'for children;' and then aiming it at children at Kramatorsk is an unspeakable, brutal depravity," she wrote online.

The Mayor of Kramatorsk said there were about 4,000 people at the city's railway station when it was hit by  the rockets. He said most were women, elderly and children preparing to evacuate to safer regions as Russia focuses its troops in eastern Ukraine.

Read more: Zelenskyy: Atrocities in Borodyanka 'more horrific' than Bucha

Read more: Russia suspended from UN Human Rights Council following invasion of Ukraine

The state railway company said two Russian rockets struck the station, which is used for the evacuation of civilians from areas under bombardment.

Regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said thousands of people were at the train station at the time of the strike, preparing to evacuate to safer regions as Russia focuses its troops in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky took to Instagram to decry the attack, and confirmed the reports of casualties. "[Russian forces] are cynically destroying the civilian population. This is an evil that has no limits. And if it is not punished, it will never stop," he wrote.

Regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said thousands of people were at the train station at the time of the strike, preparing to evacuate to safer regions as Russia focuses its troops in eastern Ukraine.

The Russian defence ministry has denied responsibility for the missile strikes on the railway station, according to the RIA state agency.

It suggested Ukraine attacked its own people, saying a missile used in the strike was only used by the Ukrainian military. 

Alexander Kamyshin, the head of Ukraine's railway company wrote on social media: "Two rockets hit the Kramatorsk railway station. People have been hurt. We are clarifying the details."

The company later added: "According to operational data, more than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in the rocket attack on Kramatorsk railway station."

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned Russia that targeting civilians is a war crime after Ukraine said around 30 people were killed and 100 injured in a rocket strike on a train station in Kramatorsk, in the east of the country.

She tweeted: "Appalled by the horrific reports of Russian rocket attacks on civilians at Kramatorsk railway station in eastern Ukraine.

"The targeting of civilians is a war crime. We will hold Russia and Putin to account."

Kramatorsk is found in the east of the country, about 50 miles north of Donetsk and 80 miles west of Luhansk.

Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have been regrouping for a new offensive, and that Moscow plans to seize as much territory as it can in the eastern part of Ukraine known as Donbas bordering Russia. Local authorities in some areas have been urging civilians to leave the while it is still possible and relatively safe to do so.

The attack is the latest of several atrocities to occur across Ukraine, with 'horrific' scenes becoming apparent in Bucha and Borodyanka too.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during his address on Thursday: "They have started sorting through the ruins in Borodyanka.

"It's much more horrific there, there are even more victims of Russian occupiers.

"And what will happen when the world learns the whole truth about what the Russian military did in Mariupol?

"There, on almost every street, is what the world saw in Bucha and other towns in the Kyiv region after the withdrawal of Russian troops.

"The same cruelty. The same heinous crimes."

Meanwhile, the UN's General Assembly suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council in a historic vote on Thursday.

The resolution expressed "grave concern at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine", particularly at reports of rights abuses by Russia.