Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian town of Chaplyne on Wednesday, as Ukraine marked a muted independence day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned could be interrupted by "something particularly cruel" from Russia. Wednesday was both the 31st anniversary of Ukraine's break from the Soviet Union and the six-month anniversary of Russia's invasion.
Four Russian missiles struck Chaplyne's train station, killing 21 civilians and wounding another 22 in five burning passenger rail cars, Zekensky deputy Kirill Timoshenko said Wednesday afternoon. It was the deadliest Russian strike on civilians in weeks. Hours earlier, an 11-year-old boy was killed when a Russian missile destroyed a house in the town of about 3,500 in the central Dnipropetrovsk region.
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