Russian forces fired rockets on Ukraine’s Independence Day
On Ukraine’s Independence Day, Russian forces fired rockets at a train station, killing 22 people, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian news agencies reported that Zelenskyy told the U.N. Security Council via video that the deadly attack happened in Chaplyne, a town of about 3,500 people in the central Dnipropetrovsk region. The president’s office also said that an 11-year-old boy was killed in the settlement by rocket fire earlier in the day.
Zelenskyy said in his nightly video message to the country, “Chaplyne is our pain today.” At one point, Zelenskyy said that about 50 people were hurt. Later, the deputy head of Zelenskyy’s office said that the attack hit five passenger rail cars and hurt 22 people.
Ukraine had been preparing for especially strong attacks around the national holiday that celebrates the day in 1991 when Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Wednesday was also six months since the war started.
A few days before Independence Day, the capital city of Kyiv banned large gatherings until Thursday because they were afraid of missile attacks. Residents of Kyiv, which has been mostly safe in recent months, woke up to air raid sirens on Wednesday, but there were no immediate attacks. As the day went on, reports came in of Russian bombings in the country’s east, west, and centre. The train station seemed to be the target of the worst attack.
Zelenskyy warned over the weekend that Russia “may try to do something especially mean and cruel” this week. Before the attack on the train station, he repeated the warnings and said, “Russian provocations and brutal strikes are possible.”
Even so, there was a party atmosphere at Kyiv’s Maidan square during the day as thousands of people posed for pictures next to burned-out Russian tanks that were on display. Folk singers were set up, and many people who didn’t care about the sirens were out and about in dresses and shirts with traditional embroidery.
In a holiday message to the country, Zelenskyy praised Ukraine’s success in keeping Moscow’s forces at bay since the invasion. He said, “On February 24, we were told: You have no chance. On August 24, we wish Ukraine “Happy Independence Day!”