Railway Station Death Toll Rises As Putin Seeks To Beef Up Russia’s Military

Heavy fighting continues in Ukraine as Russia’s unprovoked invasion entered its seventh month, with Moscow’s forces reportedly firing cluster munitions in a central city a day after 25 people were killed in a Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian railway station.

In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree ordering the increase of the size of Russia’s armed forces by 137,000, apparently seeking to replace what unconfirmed reports said were significant losses by Russian armed forces in the Ukraine conflict.

As Ukrainians celebrated 31 years of independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of launching a missile strike that hit the Chaplyne railway station in the southern Dnipropetrovsk region, killing at least 22 people and wounding more than 50.

“Chaplyne is our pain today. As of this moment, there are 22 dead, five of them burned in a railway car,” he said in his nightly video address. “Search-and-rescue operations at the railway station will continue. We will definitely make the occupiers answer for everything they have done. And we will certainly throw out the invaders from our land.”

On August 25, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, provided updated casualty figures from the attack, putting the number of the dead at 25, including two children, and 31 wounded.

Russia’s Defense Ministry on August 25 acknowledged the strike on the Chaplyne railway station but claimed it had targeted a Ukrainian train that was transporting ammunition to the front line.

According to the decree signed by Putin on August 25, Russia’s armed forces will be increased to 2,039,758 from 1,902,000.

The number of military personnel will be increased to 1,150,628 people from 1,013,628.

Other personnel mentioned in the decree are civilians employed by the armed forces.

The decree will come into force on January 1, 2023.

Earlier on August 25, Russian forces bombed the central city of Kryviy Rih with cluster munitions, the head of the military administration of Kryviy Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul, said on Telegram, adding that so far there were no reports of casualties or damage.

Cluster munitions have been banned by most nations due to their devastating and indiscriminate effect on military personnel and civilians alike.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on August 25 called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to put an end to armed attacks on Ukraine and said the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant must be demilitarized.

Recent fighting around the Zaporizhzhya plant — Europe’s largest nuclear station — has triggered fears of a catastrophic incident.

The United States, the largest single provider of weaponry, announced another $3 billion in new U.S. military aid, a mammoth package that puts U.S. assistance at nearly $12 billion since February 24.

Since the invasion began, Russia has tightened its grip on Ukraine’s southern and eastern territories, though more recently, Western military officials say, the conflict has turned into a stalemate./RFE