Geoff: An apparent Russian
missile slammed into a crowded
rail platform today in eastern
Ukraine, killing dozens, and
wounding hundreds.
Thousands of people were waiting
for trains to evacuate the area,
as Russian forces look to
re-focus their assault on
Ukraine's eastern region.
Meantime, the Pentagon said it
believes Russia will call up as
many as 60,000 reservists, after
six weeks of fighting have
inflicted heavy losses on
Russian forces.
Special correspondent Simon
ostrovsky reports. And a warning
for viewers: Images in this
story are upsetting.
Simon: These were the things
they carried.
A baseball cap, a pet rabbit,
its owner nowhere to be found.
Moments earlier, chaos and one
of the more gruesome scenes of
this war.
The dead and dying thrown about
by what a senior defense
official said was a ballistic
missile strike, on the more than
4,000 civilians on the platform
at kramatorsk's rail stop.
Most were women and children
desperate to flee.
And now, so many are gone.
Local officials recounted the
horror.
>> There were many killed and
injured here as well as
ambulances and police.
Also fire engines.
The cars were still on fire.
It was hell on Earth.
They all had shrapnel injuries.
Simon: This is what the area
around the train station looked
like just yesterday - with
travelers packed in, elbow to
elbow.
The Ukrainian authorities had
urged residents of the donbas
region to leave the area as
they braced for a major Russian
offensive, but this turned into
one of the most single deadly
incidents since the start of the
war.
The tail fin of a Russian
tochka-u ballistic missile was
found near the site of the
strike with the words "For the
children" spray-painted on the
side.
Local authorities said at least
5 children died in the attack.
Kramatorsk is in a strategic
location, in the
government-controlled portion of
donetsk, where western officials
expect Russia to launch a major
operation in the coming weeks.
Although a senior defense
official today said Russia
continues to struggle with
logistics and "Will not be able
to reinforce with great speed."
Speaking to reporters earlier
today, Kremlin spokesman dmitry
peskov vaguely said the war
could end soon.
>> We are talking about in the
foreseeable future.
Simon: This new video released
by Russia's defense ministry
shows no sign of forces letting
up in the eastern luhansk
region.
Near Kyiv's capital in bucha,
now a horrific symbol of
Ukraine's pain, the grim work
continues.
Police and volunteers gather
evidence of war crimes.
The victims, ordinary citizens.
>> These are all killed and
tortured people.
Shot at the close range, with
their arms and legs tied.
Some were blindfolded.
Simon: Today, forensic
investigators began exhuming a
mass grave.
Officials say they found at
least three sites of mass
shootings during Russia's
occupation.
Hundreds are believed to have
been killed.
Many, still waiting to be found.
Earlier this week, journalists
found the bodies of two women
who lay sprawled inside their
home.
Their neighbor, iryna kolisnyk,
says three other men are buried
in her backyard.
One of them, leonya, shot in the
head while he mourned the death
of a friend.
>> He turns and says: 'This is
my friend's grave. He was
killed.'
soldiers walked behind him. And
immediately after he said it
about the killing we heard the
click and leonya is on the
ground.
Leonya is gone.
Simon: Today the president of
the eu commission Ursula Von Der
leyen visited bucha and gasped
at the horror as she was
escorted through the trail of
bodies.
>> We have seen the cruel face
of Putin's army.
Here in bucha we saw our
humanity being shattered.
It is, the whole world is
mourning with the people of
bucha.
Simon: In their latest mission
to Kyiv, European officials also
huddled with the Ukrainian
leader, in another effort to
show their unwavering support.
Hours earlier, in an address to
his nation, president zelenskyy
warned the devastation in towns
neighboring bucha could even be
more dreadful.
>> The work on dismantling the
debris in borodyanka has begun.
It is much worse there.
Even more victims of the Russian
occupiers.
Simon: In another village near
Kyiv, residence return to what
is left after enduring heavy
Russian bombardment.
>> They did this to us.
They did not fight on the
battlefield with our warriors.
They fought in the village.
The Russians hid behind our
backs here and stayed in our
houses, garages, and cellars and
shot at us.
Simon: The horrors they recalled
echo the many allegations of
Russian war crimes committed in
towns across the northern
region.