Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Wednesday the arrest of an individual after the Russian “terrorist attack” in Kramatorsk (east), which left at least 11 dead and “more than 60 injured” the day before, according to a latest report communicated by the Ukrainian president.
“Today the Security Service (SBU) and Special Police Forces arrested the person who coordinated this terrorist attack,” Zelensky said in his daily evening address.
“Anyone who helps Russian terrorists destroy lives deserves the maximum penalty,” warned the Ukrainian leader that “there may still be people under the rubble.” The perpetrators of these strikes “are people without humanity”, he continued, believing that such actions amounted to “high treason” punishable by life imprisonment.
A destroyed restaurant and apartments
A Russian strike on Tuesday evening in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, destroyed a restaurant and damaged apartments, shops, cars, a post office and several other buildings, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office.
“Russian missiles cost the lives of 11 of our fellow citizens, including three children,” Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday evening. “More than 60 people were injured,” he said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense for its part claimed to have struck a “temporary deployment point” of the 56th mechanized infantry brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces.
An important railway hub and home to military sites, Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region, is very regularly targeted by Russian bombardments. The deadliest was that of the station, struck in April 2022, which left 61 dead and more than 160 injured. This strike took place a few weeks after the start of the Russian invasion and when a crowd of civilians tried to leave the city in the face of the fighting.