At least 50 killed as Russia strikes Ukraine rail evacuation hub

[KYIV] At least 50 people were killed and some 300 injured when Russia bombed a major rail evacuation hub held by the government in Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said.

The dead included 5 children after a missile hit the rail station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Friday.

In an online post updating an earlier preliminary death toll of 39, Kyrylenko said the dead included victims who had died of their wounds after being taken to hospital or medical centres.

The rail evacuation hub had offered a chance to about 8,000 people a day - mainly women and children - to flee Russia's war, the city's Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko said.

Photos released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the Defence Ministry showed victims lying scattered around among packed suitcases. The attack drew strong condemnation from Ukraine and the European Union. "Having neither forces nor bravery to face us on the battlefield, they are cynically destroying civilian population," Zelenskiy wrote on Facebook.

Russia's Defence Ministry denied responsibility for the attack, claiming that the type of missile found on the scene is used only by Ukrainian forces, Interfax reported.

Several hours before the attack, Russian forces shelled the only government-held rail link from Kramatorsk to western parts of Ukraine, the regional railway said.

More than 200,000 residents of the Donestk region have used the railway for evacuation since the war started on Feb 24, regional government spokeswoman Tetyana Ihnatchenko told Ukraine 24 TV on Friday.

As the Russian offensive against Ukraine has stalled after six weeks of fighting, Vladimir Putin withdrew his troops from areas near Kyiv in a potential attempt to centre on occupying areas in the country's south and east.

The EU strongly commended the attack, with foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeting it was "yet another attempt to close escape routes for those fleeing this unjustified war and cause human suffering." Borrell and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are visiting Kyiv on Friday to meet Zelenskiy. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS