”Babel” review of events on April 8: 50 people were killed at the railway station in Kramatorsk, Slovakia handed over the S-300, and EU officials arrived in Kyiv

From the very beginning of Russiaʼs full-scale war against Ukraine, "Babel" has been conducting daily live text coverage of the events and promptly informed about the main news in the telegram channel. We also do a daily digest of the highlights of the day in case you havenʼt been able to follow online.

On the night of April 8, all three trains with refugees, which were "cut off" after an enemy strike on an overpass near the Barvinkove station in Donetsk Oblast, can finally go. The railwaymen promptly restored the damaged track.

The occupiers fired Tochka-U missiles at the Kramatorsk railway station where civilians from Donetsk Oblast were being evacuated. Fifty people were killed, including 5 children, and more than 100 were injured. In Kramatorsk, people are being evacuated by cars. Russian troops fired at the icebreaker "Kapitan Belousov" in the trading port of Mariupol. The crew was on board at that time. One person was killed and several were injured.

Almost the entire convoy of buses going to Melitopol with humanitarian aid for further evacuation of people was taken away by the Russian military. Drivers were told to change to one bus and return. The rest of the buses were stolen by the Russian occupiers.

The bodies of 132 shot people were found in Makariv, Kyiv Oblast. The infrastructure in the village was practically destroyed, and the surrounding areas were mined. Before the war, almost 15,000 people lived in the village. About a thousand people remain there now.

Australia additionally transfers Bushmaster armored vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The first three have already left for Ukraine. Canada plans to provide $ 416 million in military aid to Ukraine this year and the following year. The European Union will allocate another € 500 million for Ukraineʼs military support. The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Eduard Geger, confirmed that his country had indeed handed over S-300 air defense systems to Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said the Alliance is ready to supply Ukraine with weapons, including modern and heavy, for years to come, if it helps stop Russiaʼs aggression.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is delaying the decision to provide Ukraine with about 100 tanks despite pressure from coalition partners. The plan is being promoted by the Green Party, Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck, and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. The decision was initially expected to be made this week. But Scholz insists that Germany must first develop a common position with Western allies in the EU and NATO.

The United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on two daughters of Putin and the daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. They will be barred from entering and their assets will be frozen.

Since February 24, 26 countries have sent some Russian diplomats and the EU and the UN made the same at the level of organizations. 443 Lavrovʼs subordinates went home.

World food prices have reached a maximum historical level. The price leap was caused by Russiaʼs military aggression against Ukraine, which led to a shock in the main grain and oil markets.

German Dr. Oetker, which produces leavening agents, baking ingredients, and cereals, comes from Russia. The plant in Belgorod is closing. The company has been operating in Russia since 1908. The Swedbank banking group, which operates in Sweden and the Baltic states, is suspending all financial transactions with Russia and Belarus due to the Russian war in Ukraine.

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrel arrived in Kyiv. They visited Bucha, which had been crushed by the occupiers, and began negotiations with Volodymyr Zelensky.