After the attack on the train station in Kramatorsk, a city in eastern Ukraine, in the Donbass, in which at least fifty civilians, including five children, died on Friday April 8, the survivors and witnesses of the tragedy began to give terrible testimonies.
Strong words that allow to a certain extent to account for the drama.
“I was escorting a group of five children aged 5 to 10. We heard a first noise, then an explosion. I pushed the kids into a corner of the building and then lay on top of them. I was lucky, really lucky, because 50 cm from me was a man who was completely torn to pieces”, testified in particular Inna Balakovska who works for the Red Cross.
“People were running, screaming, crying, praying. It was scary, cars were exploding, there was panic everywhere. I don’t recognize myself today. Something happened to me. What I saw, these people who are without legs, without arms, this tragedy, all of this hit me psychologically,” said Eduard Pavenko, civil engineer and volunteer with a local church.
Volodymyr Zelensky pleads for ‘a firm global response’
Immediately after the deadly shelling of Kramatorsk train station, where hundreds of civilians had gathered to flee the region fearing a Russian offensive, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for “a firm global response”.
While Moscow denies being responsible, the massacre has sparked strong Western indignation. US President Joe Biden notably denounced a “horrible atrocity” committed by Moscow, and French diplomacy a “crime against humanity”.