UKRAINE: At least 15 people were killed and dozens injured in a Russian missile attack on a Ukrainian railway station on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said as his nation marked the anniversary of its independence from Moscow-dominated Soviet rule.
Zelensky warned on Tuesday of the risk of “vile Russian provocations” on Independence Day, which marked exactly six months since Russian forces first invaded Ukraine, starting Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
In a video address to the UN Security Council, Zelensky said the missiles hit the train in the town of Chaplynka, about 145 km (90 miles) west of Russian-occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Four wagons were on fire, he said.
Earlier today, in an emotional address to his compatriots, Zelensky said Ukraine had been “reborn” when Russia invaded and vowed to eventually push Russian forces out completely.
“A new nation appeared in the world on February 24 at 4 in the morning. It was not born, but reborn. A nation that did not cry, scream or fear. The one that did not run. It did not give up. And it did not forget,” he said in front of Kyiv’s main independence monument in his After days of warnings that Moscow could use Ukraine’s Independence Day to fire more rockets into major urban centres, the second-largest city of Kharkiv has been put under lockdown after months of frequent bombing.
Public Independence Day celebrations were cancelled on Wednesday, but many Ukrainians marked the day with embroidered shirts typical of the national dress.
In the capital, Kyiv, air raid sirens sounded at least seven times during the day, although no attack took place. Zelensky and his wife joined religious leaders for a service at Kyiv’s St. Sofia in the 11th century and laid flowers at the monument to the fallen soldiers.
In his speech today morning, the 44-year-old leader promised to regain control of the Russian-occupied regions of eastern Ukraine, as well as the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
“We will not sit down at the negotiating table out of fear with a gun pointed at our heads. The most terrible iron for us is not missiles, planes and tanks, but shackles. Not trenches, but shackles,” he said.
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