Officials Condemn Attempts to Blame Russia For Missile Attacks

Source Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation

MOSCOW, Russia--Russian Defence Ministry said, that in order to accuse Russia of an alleged missile strike on Kramatorsk railway station, Kiev regime has posted on social media pictures of Tochka-U missile launchers that took part in "Union Courage 2022" Russian-Belarusian exercise in February.

Please note, all photos published by Kiev from "Union Courage 2022" exercise show non-Russian missile systems. Tochka-U tactical missiles whose wreckage was found near Kramatorsk railway station are used only by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

According to clarified information, the strike on Kramatorsk railway station was carried out by a missile division of the Ukrainian armed forces from the area of Dobropol'e, 45 kilometers south-west of the city.

The aim of the Kiev regime's strike on the railway station in Kramatorsk was to disrupt the mass exit of residents from the city in order to use them as a "human shield" to defend Ukrainian armed forces positions, as in many other Ukrainian population centers, (www.mil.ru)

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov on Friday referred reporters to the Defense Ministry statement about the strike at Kramatorsk with a Tochka-U missile and said Russian forces don't use these missiles.

"We need to go by the statement of the Russian Defense Ministry, first of all, which ruled out that our armed forces utilized that missile," he said. "Our armed forces don't use this type of missiles, and also no missions took place or were planned for today in Kramatorsk." He said he was confident that "this is the statement we need to go by." (www.tass.ru)

The Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Office in Geneva Gennady Gatilov said that the unprincipled line of Western countries, which use blackmail to achieve their goals, discredits the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). "What is happening now in the Council is a result of the impudent and unprincipled line of the Western countries, which do not shy away from openly blackmailing other delegations to achieve their goals. Such a situation, he stressed, does not allow Russia "under the current conditions to continue to remain a part of this international mechanism." (www.tass.ru)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a conversation with the diplomatic adviser to the President of France, E. Bonn, said that one of the main reasons for the current crisis in Ukraine is an imbalance in the existing security mechanisms in Europe. He also pointed out that all parties should promote peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and create the necessary conditions for them. "You cannot call for a ceasefire and hostilities and at the same time continuously supply a large number of weapons and equipment, causing an escalation of hostilities," the diplomat added, (www.tass.ru)

The Russian Embassy sent a note of protest to the German Foreign Ministry demanding to condemn the vandal attack in Treptow Park in Berlin.

The diplomats pointed out the inadmissibility of "a tolerant attitude towards any manifestations of xenophobia and racism, attempts to stir up Russophobic sentiments in Germany, and discrimination against Russian-speaking citizens." (www.ria.ru)

The head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said that the decision of the Ukrainian government to allow territorial defense units to use artillery would lead to the destruction of civilian infrastructure and mass casualties. They will begin to destroy civilian infrastructure, and the lack of "at least minimal skills" in handling this type of weapon will lead to massive accidental casualties. (www.ria.ru)

Updates on the Special Military Operation in Ukraine

High-precision air-based missiles in the Donetsk Region have destroyed weapons and military equipment of the Ukrainian military reserves arriving in Donbass at Pokrovsk, Slavyansk and Barvenkovo railway stations.

High-precision missiles of the coastal missile system "Bastion '' destroyed the Foreign Mercenary and Training Centre near Krasnoselka, northeast of Odessa.

Russian air defence systems shot down 2 Ukrainian military helicopters in the air: Mi-8 and Mi-24 near Staraya Zbur'evka, 5 unmanned aerial vehicles, including 2 Bayraktar TB-2 near Krivoi Rog.

Air Force and Army aviation hit 81 military assets of Ukraine.

Among them: 2 command posts, 1 anti-aircraft missile launcher "Osa", 3 multiple rocket launchers, as well as 9 strong points and 59 areas of Ukrainian military equipment stockpile.

In total, 97 helicopters, 421 unmanned aerial vehicles, 228 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2,019 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 223 multiple launch rocket systems, 874 field artillery and mortars, as well as 1,917 units of special military vehicles were destroyed during the operation.

Russian Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine.

On April 8, high-precision air-based missiles destroyed a large depot of missile and artillery weapons near Nimirovskoe, Odessa Region. Aviation equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was also destroyed at the Kanatovo military airfield in Kirovograd Region.

Operational-tactical aviation hit 54 military assets of Ukraine.

Among them a command post, two fuel depots, a field ammunition depot, 2 multiple rocket launchers, as well as 45 strong points and areas of Ukrainian military equipment concentration.

Russian air defence systems shot down a Ukrainian Su-27 aircraft in the air near Novomikhailovka.

In total, 126 aircraft, 421 unmanned aerial vehicles, 2,024 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 225 multiple launch rocket systems, 876 field artillery and mortars, as well as 1,923 units of special military vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were destroyed during the operation.

Today, the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck Kramatorsk railway station with a Tochka-U tactical missile.

The Tochka-U tactical missile, the wreckage of which was found near Kramatorsk railway station, is only used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

I would like to point out that the maximum range of the Tochka-U missile is 120 km. The warhead weighs 482kg and contains 20 fragmentation warheads, each 7.5kg, forming around 16,000 fragments.

An analysis of the engagement radius of the warhead, as well as the characteristic position of Tochka-U missile's tail section, clearly confirm that it was launched from a south-western direction away from Kramatorsk.

According to intelligence reports, one of the divisions of the 19th Missile Brigade armed with Tochka-U missile systems at the time of the strike on Kramatorsk was located near Dobropol'e in Donetsk Region, 45 km south-west of Kramatorsk.

This area is still under the full control of the Ukrainian military grouping troops in Donbass.

I would like to stress that the Ukrainian Armed Forces still possess a significant arsenal of Tochka-U missiles.

Before the start of the special military operation, the Kiev regime had 20 Tochka-U missile systems with two launchers each.

During the special military operation, 8 Ukrainian Tochka-U rocket launchers and around 90 per cent of the missiles at the arsenals were destroyed.

Nevertheless, the threat by the Kiev regime of continued provocations and missile attacks on populated areas with civilians remains high.

A joint operation by grouping of troops of the Donetsk People's Republic and units of the Russian Armed Forces to fully liberate Mariupol city is continuing.

The results of radio intercepts show that in addition to Nazis from the Azov battalion and remnants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, there is a significant number of foreign mercenaries in the occupied areas of the city. In addition to Ukrainian and Russian, radio communications are conducted in six other, mostly European, foreign languages.

It is clear that it is not the defenders of so-called "European values" who are now blockaded in the city, but foreign mercenaries. Arriving to kill Slavs for American dollars, using a "human shield" made up of civilians.

Kiev's nationalist regime has refused to withdraw fighters from Mariupol.

With this in mind, the city will certainly be liberated by the troops of the Donetsk People's Republic and units of the Russian Armed Forces.

Crimes of the Ukrainian Nazis and the armed forces of Ukraine

The military investigative departments of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened criminal cases against servicemen of the 54th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the Aidar battalion) on the grounds of a crime under Part 1 of Art. 356 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (use of prohibited means and methods of warfare).

The Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War dated 08/12/1949 and its protocols prohibit encroachment on the life and physical integrity of persons who do not directly take part in hostilities. It was established that, in violation of these requirements, on April 4 and 5, 2022, from the territory under the control of the Aidar battalion, the settlements of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics were repeatedly shelled from large-caliber artillery weapons.

The military investigative bodies of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation are taking measures aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the incident, as well as the persons involved in the commission of this crime. (www.sledcom.ru)

The Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation instructed the central office of the department to check the information about the murder of Russian prisoners by Ukrainian nationalists.

According to available information, a Danish citizen participating in hostilities on the side of Ukraine as a mercenary told the media that he had witnessed the killing of captured Russian soldiers by Ukrainian soldiers.

The investigation will take measures to identify the foreign citizen who took part in the hostilities as a mercenary in Ukraine, and will also verify the information provided about the murder of Russian servicemen who were captured. If confirmed, this information will be taken into account in the course of further investigation of the criminal case on the facts presented, (www.sledcom.ru)

Exposure of disinformation

On Friday, April 8, at 10.45 am, a Tochka-U rocket of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fell near the railway station in the city of Kramatorsk. The Ukrainian side stated that it was the Russian Armed Forces that hit a civilian object from the Iskander complex. However, later the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the rocket was fired from the Tochka-U complex, which is actively used by Ukraine, but not used during the special operation by Russia. All statements of the Ukrainian side were refuted. However, President Zelenskiy has so far not deleted his disinformation post.

On this day, six export flights were scheduled to evacuate the city. The head of the board of the carrier Ukrzaliznytsia Alexander Kamyshin said that as a result of rocket attacks on the Kramatorsk railway station, according to preliminary data, more than 30 people died and more than 100 were injured.

The head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavel Kirilenko, immediately wrote that a Russian Iskander missile hit the station. Later, Aleksey Arestovich, adviser to the office of the President of Ukraine, also said that Russian troops attacked the Kramatorsk railway station with Iskander.

At 11.15 Moscow time, photos and videos of the rocket appeared, according to military experts, this is Tochka-U, and not Iskander, since only it has such elements as in the picture. Tochka-U is an obsolete missile that is not used by the Russian Ministry of Defense in Ukraine and is mainly used only by the Ukrainian army. The missile came from the south-western direction - this is the territory controlled by Ukrainian troops. The inscription "For children" was made on the rocket. Such an inscription was often used by Ukrainian troops during the anti- terrorist operation in the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic.

At noon in Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote that the Russian military had hit the Kramatorsk railway station with a Tochka U missile.

At 12:15 p.m., the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the Russian Armed Forces were not using Tochka-U as part of a special operation in Ukraine. On April 8, the Russian armed forces did not have any fire missions in the city of Kramatorsk and were not planned.

After the statement of the Ministry of Defense, the Ukrainian telegram channels disseminated information that during the joint exercises of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus "Allied Resolve - 2022", launches of Tochka-U missiles of the RF Armed Forces were carried out. The material about this was published, for example, by the Zvezda TV channel, but it says that the Tochka-U complex is used by Belarus.

At 12.25 p.m., a video began to circulate showing Tochka-U complexes on railway platforms with the Latin letter V on them. However, Russian Telegram channels denied the information that the video was filmed on the territory of Ukraine, tactical signs Z and V were used during the Allied Resolve exercise in Belarus. The installation boundary was not crossed.

At 2:30 p.m., the Russian Defense Ministry issued an appeal in which it again stated that non-Russian Tochka-U systems were used as part of the Allied Resolve exercises. The agency noted that the strike on the railway station of Kramatorsk was carried out by a missile division of the Ukrainian armed forces from the area of the settlement of Dobropolye, 45 kilometers southwest of the city.