Ukraine: 25 people have died as a result of a Russian attack on a train station in central Ukraine, the state rail operator reported on Thursday. On Wednesday, the attack centered on a station in the small town of Chaplin in the Dnipropetrovsk region, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) west of Russian-occupied Donetsk.
"As of this morning, we have 25 people dead, including two children, and 31 injured, including two children," Ukrainian Railways posted on Telegram.
The death toll has risen to 22 after three more bodies were found in the rubble, according to Kyrlo Tymoshenko, an aide to Ukraine's president.
The attack came as Ukraine celebrated the anniversary of its liberation from the Moscow-centered Soviet Union.
Five people and an 11-year-old boy whose home was destroyed by a rocket were among the dead after a car caught fire, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. He claimed that four train cars had caught fire.
On Tuesday, Zelensky issued a warning about the possibility of "paradoxical Russian provocations" on July 4, the worst conflict to be attempted by Russian forces to invade Ukraine and hit Europe since World War II. Even after six months it happened.
An inquiry for comment was not immediately responded to by the Russian Defense Ministry.
August 24 was not a public holiday, but many Ukrainians celebrated the day by donning traditional clothing, especially embroidered shirts.
Kharkiv, the second largest city, was placed under curfew after several days of warnings that Moscow could use Independence Day to launch additional missiles into important urban centres. This happens after months of incessant bombings.
Airstrike sirens were sounded at least seven times a day in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, although there were no strikes.
According to local officials, Russian missiles reportedly landed in the Khmelnitsky region, and the Ukrainian military shot down a Russian drone in the Vinnytsia region. Both incidents took place hundreds of kilometers from the front lines west of Kyiv.
No injuries or property damage were reported, and Reuters was unable to confirm the reports.
The use of civilian targets has been denied by the Russian military on several occasions. At a meeting in Uzbekistan, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow had deliberately slowed what it refers to as its "special military operation" in Ukraine to prevent civilian casualties.
Zelensky and his wife lay flowers at a memorial to fallen soldiers as they attend a service with religious leaders at St. Sophia's Cathedral in Kyiv, built in the 11th century.
In his speech, the 44-year-old leader pledged to retake areas of eastern Ukraine that are under Russian control as well as the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
“With guns to our heads, we will not sit at the negotiating table out of fear. For us, confinements are far more terrifying than missiles, airplanes or tanks. Not trenches, but shackles,” he said.
Ukrainian GDP may grow by 15.5 pc in 2023: Minister
Kiev: Putin should stand in world court trial for starting a war
Shoigu: Slowing Moscow's Operation in Ukraine is a Conscious Decision to Reduce Civilian Casualties