War in Ukraine, day 44: Two Russian missiles hit a train station in Kramatorsk killing at least 39 and injuring 100. New evidence that Russians committed the atrocities in Bucha

On the 44th day of the invasion, Russia intensifies its attacks in the south and east, the Ukrainians try to evacuate civilians from the eastern regions threatened by the offensive of Vladimir Putin’s troops.

The latest Russian attack on Ukrainian civilian claimed 39 lives, as two Russian missiles hit a train station in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, killing 39 people and injuring about 100 others, the Ukrainian state-owned railway company said on Friday.

The “Rashists” (“Russian fascists”) knew very well where they aimed and what they wanted: to sow panic and fear, they wanted to kill as many civilians as possible,” said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted on Friday shortly after the rocket attack at Kramatorsk train station, accusing the attack of civilians of “absolute evil”.

“The invaders hit the “point-in” at the Kramatorsk railway station, where thousands of peaceful Ukrainians were waiting for evacuation… About 30 were killed, about 100 people were injured of varying degrees of severity. Police and rescuers are already at the scene. Russian non-humans do not leave their methods. Not having the strength and courage to confront us on the battlefield, they are cynically destroying the civilian population. This is evil that knows no bounds. And if it is not punished it will never stop,” Volodymyr Zelenski posted on Facebook on Friday, where he also posted some pictures of the train station hit by Russian missiles.

Photos and videos with the terrible effects of the Russian attack began to appear on social networks. (ATTENTION, the links lead to images with emotional impact).

The Meduza investigation site obtained new high-quality images filmed with a drone in the south of Bucha. According to the metadata of the files, these clips were recorded over several days, between March 23-30, 2022. Like the recently published satellite images, the clips that Medusa publishes are important evidence that shows the horrific killings of civilians in Bucha took place before Russian troops withdrew from the city.

Moreover, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the situation in Borodianka, a city recently taken over by Ukrainians from the Russians, is “much worse” than in Bucha. There are more victims, but every crime will be solved and every executioner will be found, said the leader from Kyiv. According to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, 26 bodies were found in Borodianka yesterday under the ruins of two destroyed buildings.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that more than 100 attacks have been carried out on Ukrainian hospitals or medical convoys and called for humanitarian access to the Russian-besieged city of Mariupol. Senior US military officials say Vladimir Putin has “given up” on conquering Kiev to focus on separatist areas in the Donbas.

Ursula von der Leyen, Josep Borrell in Kyiv

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and the head of the EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell are expected in Kyiv today. They travel by train from Poland to Ukraine. The EU officials are to meet President Zelensky.

Ursula von der Leyen, a former German defense minister, left the small Polish town of Przemysl, just 13 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Ukraine’s airspace is closed due to the war. Chief Executive of Europe’s first Western leader to visit Ukraine since Bucha atrocities exposed

Looking forward to Kyiv.@JosepBorrellF @eduardheger pic.twitter.com/YFAgGr5Tlc

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) April 8, 2022

Four civilians killed in Kherson

Four civilians were killed while trying to leave by boat from Kherson, local authorities announced on Friday, quoted by the BBC. The boat in which the civilians were sailing was sailing from the village of Pervomaivka, in the occupied Kherson region, when it was attacked about 70 meters from the shore. There were 14 people in the boat, according to a government official from the town of Kryvi Rih. Two men and a woman were killed on the spot, while a 13-year-old child later died. Seven people were hospitalized and two were reported missing, the official said. It is unclear whether the 14th person in the boat was injured, missing or unharmed. The BBC states that it was unable to verify the information independently. A port city in southern Ukraine near the Crimean peninsula, Kherson was captured by Russian forces on the eighth day of the invasion of Ukraine.

10 humanitarian corridors

Ten humanitarian corridors will be opened on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereșciuk announced, according to CNN. The corridors include routes for civilians leaving the besieged city of Mariupol and the Lugansk region, which has been heavily bombed. The corridors are east and southeast. Thus, in the east of the Donetsk region, an evacuation corridor is to be opened from Mariupol to Zaporozhye for those who can use personal transport. In the southeast of the Zaporozhye region, corridors in Berdiansk, Tokmak, Melitopol and Enerhodar will open. Also in Lugansk, the evacuation corridors will open from Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, Hirske and Rubizhne to Bakhmut.

The World Health Organization announced that there had been over 100 attacks on health institutions in Ukraine and asked humanitarian access in Mariupol.

There is not a single undestroyed hospital left in the #Luhansk region

This was stated by the head of the region Sergei Gaidai. pic.twitter.com/BMLK2JIrqm

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 7, 2022

Kyiv soldiers liberated the city of Sumi from the northeast of the country. The announcement came from the mayor there, who says that the Russians have left behind antipersonnel mines that need to be defused. The head of the Sumi military administration, Dimitro Zivitsky, announced on Facebook on Thursday night that the region was “free” from Russian forces, but urged the population to stay home due to the large number of mined areas. “The territory is free, so if you hear explosions (and there have been many in recent days), they are rescuers and demining experts working,” he said.

Major offensive expected in the East

Following the withdrawal from northern Ukraine, Russia is continuing preparations for a major offensive in eastern Ukraine and continues to besiege the city of Mariupol, the Ukrainian military said in a new report on the situation on the front. “The main efforts of the Russian invaders continue to focus on the capture of Mariupol, the offensive in the Izium area and towards the Donetsk area,” the report said. “In the last 24 hours, seven enemy attacks have been repulsed in the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions,” said Ukraine’s high military command, which listed the destruction of four tanks, two artillery systems, ten armored vehicles and 11 Russian vehicles. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russian troops continue to blockade the city of Kharkov and plant minefields to prevent, as he puts it, “the advance of Ukrainian troops.”

From the Russians’ side, it said on Friday that it had destroyed a training center for foreign mercenaries near the city of Odessa.”High-precision missiles from the Bastion coastal missile system have destroyed a concentration and training center for foreign mercenaries near the village of Krasnosilka, northeast of Odessa,” a Defense Ministry spokesman said in a briefing.

ISW report: Russian forces will likely complete the capture of Mariupol in the coming days

Russian proxy forces claimed to have captured central Mariupol on April 7, but Ukrainian forces retain positions in the southwest of the city, says the report by the Institute for the Study of War. ISW cannot independently confirm this proxy claim, but we have not observed confirmed reports of fighting in central Mariupol since April. Russian forces will likely complete the capture of Mariupol in the coming days.

Russian forces are cohering combat power for an intended major offensive in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in the coming days, they add. Ukrainian civil and military officials continued to warn local residents to evacuate prior to a likely Russian offensive. Russian forces will likely attempt to regroup and redeploy units withdrawn from northeastern Ukraine to support an offensive, but these units are unlikely to enable a Russian breakthrough. Russian forces along the Izyum-Slovyansk axis did not make any territorial gains in the last 24 hours. Russian forces are unlikely to successfully capture Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts if Russian forces in Izyum are unable to encircle Ukrainian forces on the line of contact in eastern Ukraine.

Key Takeaways

• Russian forces claim to have successfully captured central Mariupol, but Ukrainian forces retain control of the port southwest of the city. Russian forces will likely complete the capture of Mariupol in the coming days.
• Russian forces are setting conditions for a major offensive in eastern Ukraine in the coming days, but damaged units redeployed from northeastern Ukraine are unlikely to enable a successful Russian breakthrough.
• Ukrainian forces repelled continuing Russian attacks from Izyum southeast toward Slovyansk and Barvinkove.
• Russian and Belarusian forces are conducting “demonstrative actions” to fix Ukrainian forces around Kyiv in place. However, these units are highly unlikely to launch new offensive operations, and Ukrainian units around Kyiv can likely safely redeploy to eastern Ukraine.
• Western sanctions are likely successfully disrupting Russia’s military-industrial base.

Pentagon: Putin has given up Kyiv and is focusing on eastern Ukraine

Pentagon also confirms that Russia has given up Kyiv and it’s now focused on eastern Ukriane. “It remains to be seen how it will all end”, it says. Vladimir Putin has “given up” on conquering Kiev in order to focus on the separatist Donbas region, say senior US military officials. They say “it remains to be seen how the war will end” and admit that the US is helping Ukraine with information.

“Putin thought he could take control of Ukraine very quickly, he could take control of the capital very quickly. He was wrong,“said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin during a congressional hearing. “I think Putin has given up his efforts to conquer the capital and is now focusing on the south and east of the country,” he told the Senate Armed Forces.

Russia suspended from the UN Human Rights Council

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Thursday night calling for Russia to be suspended from the Human Rights Council.

The resolution received a two-thirds majority of those voting, minus abstentions, in the 193-member Assembly, with 93 nations voting in favour and 24 against.

Fifty-eight abstained from the process.

Russia, China, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Vietnam, were among those who voted against.

Those abstaining, included India, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia.

The meeting marked the resumption of a special emergency session on the war in Ukraine and followed reports of violations committed by Russian forces.

Prior to the vote, Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya urged countries to support the resolution.

“Bucha and dozens of other Ukrainian cities and villages, where thousands of peaceful residents have been killed, tortured, raped, abducted and robbed by the Russian Army, serve as an example of how dramatically far the Russian Federation has gone from its initial declarations in the human rights domain. That is why this case is unique and today’s response is obvious and self-explanatory,” he said.

Further help for Ukraine, sanctions for Russia

Canada is helping Ukraine with 730 million euros UPDATE 7.10 Canada provided in its budget announced on Thursday for additional resources to support Ukraine, including a loan to the Zelenski government through the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as additional military aid. “Canada will provide the Ukrainian government with up to one billion Canadian dollars (730 million euros) in new loan resources through a new account administered for Ukraine at the IMF, so that the government can continue to function,” the 2022 draft budget reads. To this is added an “additional $ 500 million in 2022-2023 to provide additional military assistance to Ukraine.”

The U.S. Department of State also announced additional actions to raise the economic cost on President Putin. “We are imposing blocking sanctions on two Russian state-owned enterprises: Joint Stock Company United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), as well as 28 USC subsidiaries and eight members of the USC board of directors; and Public Joint Stock Company Alrosa,” said a statement by Antony Blinken.

Australia willalso send 20 Bushmaster armored vehicles to Ukraine. The vehicles were painted green, with a Ukrainian flag on the side and the words “United With Ukraine”.

In retort, Russia has imposed sanctions on Australia, barring the prime minister and 228 other parliamentarians and members of the government from entering Russian territory, the Russian Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by The Guardian. Russia’s ban comes in response to sanctions imposed by Canberra, with Russian officials saying Australia “obediently follows Western decisions” and decided to punish Russian leaders and their deputies.

Great Britain also added daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin to its sanctions list on Friday, as did the United States in recent days.