At least 50 people were killed in a rocket attack on a railway station in eastern Ukraine, in the city of Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast on Friday, authorities said.
Five children are among the deceased, authorities added.
The news came through Ukraine’s state-owned railway company, in a statement via Facebook, ABC News reported.
The country’s railway company called the attack “a purposeful strike on the passenger infrastructure of the railway and the residents of the city of Kramatorsk.”
Donetsk Oblast Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said 38 of the 50 killed died at the scene while 12 died in hospitals. At least 100 were injured, according to the governor.
The attack happened as the governor said “thousands” of civilians were fleeing the Russian invasion and took safety at the train station as they were waiting to be taken to “safer regions of Ukraine.”
Kyrylenko accused Russian forces of “deliberately trying to disrupt the evacuation of civilians,” ABC News reported.
“The evacuation will continue,” the governor added. “Anyone who wants to leave the region will be able to do so.”
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy condemned the attack Friday, calling it “an evil that has no limits.”
“Lacking the strength and courage to stand up to us on the battlefield, they are cynically destroying the civilian population,” he said in a statement obtained by The Guardian. “This is an evil that has no limits. And if it is not punished, it will never stop.”
CBS News obtained graphic video of the aftermath of the attack and posted it on Twitter.
Russia has denied carrying out the attack, NBC News reported.
Russia’s defense ministry called Ukraine’s accusations about Friday’s attack at the train station a “provocation,” NBC News reported.
Moscow has denied targeting civilians in its attacks on Russia since the fighting began.
The United Nations says 4,382,316 Ukrainians had fled the country since the war began on February 24, The Guardian reported.
“The war in Ukraine has triggered one of the fastest-growing displacement and humanitarian crises ever,” UNHCR spokesperson Matt Saltmarsh told reporters Friday. “While the pace of arrivals is slowing, overall flows continue given the ongoing hostilities.”