Death at Kramatorsk Train Station

(Kyiv, February 21, 2023) – Russia’s cluster munition strike on the crowded Kramatorsk train station in eastern Ukraine in April 2022 killed dozens of civilians in violation of the laws of war, and was an apparent war crime, Human Rights Watch and SITU Research said in a report and video released today.

“Death at the Station: Russian Cluster Munition Attack in Kramatorsk,” the result of a new in-depth investigation, reconstructs through text and video the sequence of events surrounding Russia’s unlawful attack in Kramatorsk. On the morning of April 8, several hundred civilians were waiting at the station when a ballistic missile equipped with a cluster munition warhead exploded and released dozens of bomblets, or submunitions, killing at least 58 civilians and injuring over 100 others. The Russian commanders responsible for ordering the attack, which used an inherently indiscriminate weapon in a well-known major evacuation hub, should be investigated and held accountable.