Fifty-two dead in station bombing as civilians flee eastern Ukraine

A missile strike on a train station in eastern Ukraine killed dozens on Friday, as civilians raced to evacuate, fearing a looming Russian offensive in the region.

World leaders condemned the attack in Kramatorsk, the capital of Donetsk, with US President Joe Biden accusing Russia of being behind a "horrific atrocity" that the French condemned as a "crime against humanity."

At least 52 people including five children were killed, the regional government said, while President Volodymyr Zelensky reported 300 wounded, saying the strike showed "evil with no limits".

Zelensky said the bombing had been reported in Russia before the missiles had even landed and called for "a firm global reaction to this war crime" and more weaponry to counter Moscow's aggression.

"I am sure that the victory of Ukraine is just a matter of time and I will do everything to reduce this time," he added.

A journalist saw the bodies of at least 30 people under plastic sheets next to the station, amid pools of blood and bags nearby packed with the remains of a large rocket.

Body parts, broken glass and abandoned baggage lay scattered around the station and across the platform.

Russia denied being behind the bombing, which came with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Kyiv for talks with Zelensky and to visit the scene of civilian killings in the town of Bucha.

Russia faces "decay" because of ever tougher sanctions and Ukraine has a "European future", Von der Leyen said at a news conference with Zelensky.

Six weeks into President Vladimir Putin's invasion, Moscow has shifted its focus to eastern and southern Ukraine after stiff resistance ended plans to swiftly capture the capital Kyiv.

Russian troops appear set on creating a long-sought land link between occupied Crimea and the Moscow-backed separatist statelets of Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbas, where civilians have been urged to flee heavy shelling, laying waste to towns and complicating evacuation efforts.

"There is no secret -- the battle for Donbas will be decisive. What we have already experienced -- all this horror -- can multiply," warned Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday.

In the south, the Black Sea port city of Odessa girded for rocket attacks, imposing a weekend curfew.

Residents and Ukrainian officials returning after a Russian withdrawal from an area near Kyiv were taking stock of the scale of the devastation.