Russian MoD denies involvement in Kramatorsk attack; calls it Ukrainian provocation

The Russian Defence Ministry on Friday denied allegations that it launched a "missile attack on a railway station in the eastern Ukrainian town of Kramatorsk, which, according to local authorities, had killed at least 50 people.

Russia has called Ukraine's claim about the missile strike a "provocation". In a statement, the Ministry of Defence stated that Kyiv regime sought to derail the mass evacuation of civilians in Kramatorsk and use them as a human shield.

Moscow claimed that it didn't have any strike mission on Friday in Kramatorsk. "Missile fragments which were found near the railway station were from the Tochka-U variety used by the Ukrainian armed forces," it said.

The Putin administration also alleged that the same missile was used to attack Donetsk's central region, in which 17 people died and 36 were injured.

Kramatorsk station attack: Death toll rises to 50

The governor of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region revealed that the death toll from a rocket strike on a train station in Kramatorsk has risen to 50, including five children. Pavlo Kyrylenko said that 38 people had died at the incident site and another 12 in hospital.

Ukrainian authorities have said as many as 4,000 people were at the station from where people were moving to safer locations to flee the Russian offensive.

Several people were wounded in the strike and local hospitals were overwhelmed in dealing with the influx of patients. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian leaders have accused Moscow's military of intentionally targeting a location where only civilians were gathered.

Speaking to Republic Media Network's team in Ukraine, a top Ukrainian Military commander condemned Russia's strike on the rail terminal. Colonel Oleksandr Motuzianyk said that they have evidence that Moscow used two missiles.

"It is absolute nonsense. We have evidence that Russia has used two missiles. Against international laws, Russia has used Tochka missiles. This was launched from Crimea. 39 killed and 100 wounded," Motuzianyk told Republic TV's Shawan Sen.