- Title: Aftermath of Russian attack on Ukraine's Chaplyne
- Date: 24th August 2022
- Summary: CHAPLYNE, UKRAINE (AUGUST 24, 2022) (REUTERS) MAN SITTING DOWN SMOKING NEAR DAMAGE VARIOUS OF DESTROYED HOMES (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) LOCAL CITIZEN SERGIY, CRYING NEAR COVERED BODY OF SON, SAYING: "...11 years old" (JOURNALIST ASKING: "He was in the house?") "Yes, he was in the house, he was thrown out of there. We looked for him there in the ruins, and he was lying here. Nobody knew that he was here. Nobody knew. We thought maybe he was thrown onto the roof - but he was lying here. If we knew earlier, but no one knew that he was lying here." SERGIY PLACING EARTH ON AND CRYING OVER COVERED BODY OF SON / SERGIY WALKING AWAY COVERED BODY WINDOW OF DAMAGED HOME CRATER (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) LOCAL RESIDENT, TATYANA, SAYING: "There was no sound. Nothing at all was heard. Just an explosion is all. Fire, explosion and fire started." (JOURNALIST ASKING: What time did this happen?) "Around 13:20." DAMAGED HOUSES DAMAGED CAR (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LOCAL RESIDENT, ANATOLIY, SAYING: "We were not at home. But they heard shots, pops, and then a neighbour called and said that there was an explosion near the house and the house was destroyed. So this is the situation." (JOURNALIST ASKING: So you're lucky you weren't at home?) "Yes, there all the windows flew right onto the bed." TWO MEN WALKING THROUGH DAMAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) LOCAL CITIZEN (NAME NOT PROVIDED), SAYING: "Is that possible? Who expected this to happen?" MORE DAMAGE AND CRATER
- Embargoed: 7th September 2022 22:49
- Keywords: Chaplyne Russia Ukraine conflict war
- Location: CHAPLYNE, UKRAINE
- City: CHAPLYNE, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe
- Reuters ID: LVA001048424082022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:At least 22 people died and dozens were wounded on Wednesday (August 24) when Russian rocket strikes hit a Ukrainian town and set a passenger train on fire, officials said, as the nation marked 31 years since its independence from Moscow-dominated Soviet rule.
Residents of the small town of Chaplyne, in Eastern Ukraine, mourned loved ones amongst the rubble of their destroyed homes.
"There was no sound. Nothing at all was heard. Just an explosion is all. Fire, explosion, and fire started", local resident Tatyana told Reuters.
Local resident Sergiy lost his 11-year-old son in the strike. "We looked for him there in the ruins, and he was lying here. Nobody knew that he was here. Nobody knew" he said as he crouched next to his covered body.
President Zelenskiy's aide Kyrylo Tymoshenko said Russian forces had shelled Chaplyne twice. A boy was killed in the first attack when his house was hit by a missile and 21 people died later when rockets hit the railway station and set fire to five carriages of a passenger train, he said in a statement.
Zelenskiy had warned on Tuesday (August 23) of the risk of "repugnant Russian provocations" on Independence Day, which by chance was also six months since Russian forces invaded Ukraine, touching off Europe's most devastating conflict since World War Two.
In a video address to the United Nations Security Council, Zelenskiy said the rockets hit a train in Chaplyne, some 145 km (90 miles) west of Russian-occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Four carriages were on fire, he said.
"Chaplyne is our pain today. As of this moment, there are 22 dead," he said in a later evening video address, adding Ukraine would make Russia take responsibility for everything it had done.
"We will without any doubt evict the invaders from our land. No trace of this evil will remain in our free Ukraine," he said.
The Russian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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