As Ukraine marked its 31st Independence Day, Russian shelling of the Chaplyne train station in the central Dnipropetrovsk region has killed at least 22 people, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address to the nation.
Five of the dead were recovered from a car on the railway track and search and rescue operations are ongoing, dpa news agency quoted the President as saying in the late Wednesday night video address.
More than 50 people were injured in the shelling, according to earlier information. It is not possible to independently verify the details.
“Chaplyne is our pain today. It’s almost night, our main day, Independence Day of Ukraine, is coming to an end. But our independence does not end and will never end,” he said.
Train stations and rail infrastructure have been repeatedly hit during the war.
In April, at least 57 died in an attack on the Kramatorsk station in the eastern Donbas region.
Also on Wednesday, Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine completed six months after it began on February 24.
Elsewhere in Dnipropetrovsk, an 11-year-old child was killed by Russian shelling on Wednesday, according to local officials.
On the day Ukrainians celebrated breaking free of the Soviet Union in 1991, authorities reported attacks in several locations across the country, including the Khmelnytskyi region in the west and Zhytomyr region in the north.
Air raid sirens wailed throughout the day in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Zelensky had warned citizens against massive shelling and possible provocations by Russia on Independence Day.
The US had also warned ahead of the date that Russia might use the anniversary to launch heightened attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure and government facilities.
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