Civilians bid to leave eastern Ukraine after deadly attack on train station

Russia denied it was responsible and accused Ukraine’s military of firing on the station to try to turn blame for civilian death on Moscow

A woman with a child boards a bus as civillians are evacuated in Kramatorsk, Ukraine (Andriy Andriyenko/AP)

Civilian evacuations have gone ahead in parts of eastern Ukraine a day after a missile strike killed at least 52 people at a train station where thousands were waiting to leave the region before an expected Russian onslaught.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded a tough global response to Friday’s train station attack in Kramatorsk, calling it the latest sign of war crimes by Russian forces and hoping to prod Western backers to step up their response to help his country defend itself.