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LAST UPDATE | 8 Apr 2022
A ROCKET STRIKE has killed 50 people and injured over 100 others at a train station being used to evacuate civilians in eastern Ukraine, authorities in the war-torn country said.
Fifty people were killed, including five children, the regional governor of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said as the toll rose on one of the deadliest strikes of the six-week-old war.
The head of Ukraine’s railways Alexander Kamyshin said that two rockets hit the station. Earlier reports said that at least 30 people were killed.
Thousands were at the station at the time of the strike, preparing to evacuate to safer regions as Russia focuses its troops on eastern Ukraine, Kyrylenko added.
Reacting to the latest attack on civilians, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said around 300 people had been injured, and described Russia as an “evil with no limits”.
“They are cynically destroying the civilian population. This is an evil that has no limits. And if it is not punished, it will never stop,” Zelenskyy said on Instagram.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said “the horrific attack is further evidence of the barbaric nature of Russia’s war on Ukraine”.
This is genocide. And those responsible must be held to account.
AFP journalists on the scene saw at least 30 bodies of people grouped and lying under plastic sheets next to the station.
Blood was pooling on the ground and packed bags were strewn outside the building in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
The journalists said four cars next to the station had been destroyed and the remains of a large rocket with the words “for our children” in Russian were lying adjacent to the main building.
Bodies were later seen being loaded onto a military truck.
Russian denials
As it has done with previous attacks on civilians in Ukraine, Russia denied that it was involved in the rocket strike.
“All statements by representatives of the Kyiv nationalist regime about the ‘rocket attack’ allegedly carried out by Russia on April 8 at the railway station in the city of Kramatorsk are a provocation and are absolutely untrue,” Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement.
EU Council chief Charles Michel accused Russia of a “horrifying” act, saying Moscow was cutting off an escape route for civilians.
“Horrifying to see Russia strike one of the main stations used by civilians evacuating the region where Russia is stepping up its attack,” Michel wrote on Twitter.
“I strongly condemn this morning’s indiscriminate attack…by Russia” EU foreign policy Josep Borrell said in a separate tweet.
Kramatorsk was hit by Russian strikes earlier this week but had otherwise largely been spared the destruction witnessed by other east Ukraine cities since Russia’s invasion.
Ukrainian authorities warned residents in the east of the country to flee westwards immediately in advance of an anticipated Russian attack.
Additional reporting from Press Association and Céimin Burke
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Substantial report of the match in fairness
England looked further on un their development…but how Ireland will rue the chances they missed when english were down to 13 players
@Sean: Review the populations.
Pity they couldn’t put on some more Leinster players. Seems to be the solution for the senior team
@FoxyBoiiYT: maybe if munster had invested more money in developing home grown players than buying in so many foreign recruits in the last 25 years they might be in a position to supply more than a handful of players to the national team
@FoxyBoiiYT: jaysus foxy, you are such a poxy phucker
@Sean: Maybe of Leinster spent even more money we might have won that game. Totes embarrassing for the goi’s
@FoxyBoiiYT: you should take a bit more sugar in your tea..your bitterness is coming through very strongly
@FoxyBoiiYT: Anti-Leinster bitterness out of every pore.
@FoxyBoiiYT: Pity the lady on commentary couldn’t get to know the scrum half’s name ,imagine the pride at being picked for your country only to be called “the 9″ by that wan.
@Sean: leinster had more imports in their final match day 23 in their heinken cup wins than ulster did in theirs or munster did in either of theirs. so there is only one team that dopes their squad to gain success and that is leinster. fund fact of the day for you.
@Gerry Campbell: women should not be commentating mens rugby at all.
@FoxyBoiiYT: it’s amazing the hatred for Leinster that Munster supporters have, ye all seem to forget that Munster players dominated the Irish team years ago when management actually invested in the team. Maybe if management poured more money into their team like Leinster does they’d have more Irish team players, nobody to blame but themselves!
Oh and before you say Leinster this, Leinster that, i’m a Leinster supporter and my two favourite players are actually on the Munster squad, so i’m not being biased.
@John Doe: where does the Munster money come from? Dublin?
It’s all a learning curve all them young players will be the better for the experience.
Could Virgin have picked a worse team of commentators?
That was, without doubt, the single, worst 80 minutes of rugby it was ever my misfortune to witness. A total dirgefest. Ireland’s inventivness destroyed by schoolboy errors. And England lacking any inventivness at all beyond ‘might is right so pass it to the big guy’. Just appalling rugby. And the 20 min red card is a dangerous and stupid development.
Useless shower, back to Blackrock with them
@qffaffaf affrafrfraf: now now, many of them are St Michael’s!
The difference in development is chalk and cheese. Junior Kpoku has started 10 games for Racing this year including 2 in the Champions Cup. Pollock has started 8 games for Northampton all while the majority of the Irish U20s are playing AIL and provincial A games
Very poor game management from Ireland. You would have to question the coaching as the players seemed to be just going from side to side, no go forward, no inventiveness….
have your say