Evacuation under way in Odesa region, 15 buses deployed to transport passengers – authorities
Evacuation efforts are continuing in Odesa region at the site of a Russian strike on passenger trains, according to Head of Odesa Regional Military Administration Oleh Kiper.
"As of 16:00, another 525 passengers, including 130 children, have been evacuated from the scene. An additional 15 buses have been deployed to transport people to safe locations. Unfortunately, one child was injured. Medical assistance was provided on site," Kiper said on his Telegram channel.
As previously reported, on Thursday, August 13, Russian forces attacked Ukrzaliznytsia rolling stock twice in Odesa region. In the morning, a jet-powered drone struck the locomotive of a passenger train; the engineer and his assistant are believed to have been killed.
It was noted that despite the threat, the locomotive crew continued to operate the train so that 340 passengers could safely exit the cars. All passengers and the train crew were evacuated; there were no casualties among them.
Kiper said there were 340 passengers on the train, including 67 children, in addition to the train crew.
Later, the Prosecutor General’s Office said that under the procedural supervision of prosecutors from Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, a pretrial investigation had been launched into the commission of war crimes resulting in the loss of life (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Subsequently, the Russians attacked with a drone a diesel locomotive that was performing shunting operations in a section of track similar to where the first train had been attacked.
"There was another strike on a diesel locomotive that was directly performing shunting operations so that the trains could separate. The crew was warned in advance, and there were no casualties," Chairman of the Board of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia Oleksandr Pertsovsky said.
Pertsovsky said the company is coordinating with regional military administrations to organize bus transportation.