Russian missile strikes train station on Ukrainian Independence Day, killing 15

A Russian missile strike targeted a train station in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine, killing at least 15 people on the anniversary of Ukraine's independence.

At least 50 more people sustained significant injuries in the strike on Chaplyne Station, according to CNN.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the fatalities to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday.

In the lead up to the holiday, American government offices issued warnings to citizens still within the country to either leave altogether or be prepared to seek shelter in the event of a raid.

Kyiv banned public gatherings ahead of Independence Day and warned of escalated Russian assaults on civilian targets.

Yuriy Sak, an adviser to the Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, told CNN that “[i]n Kyiv today... we’ve already had eight air raid sirens. In other major cities of Ukraine, even those which are far away from the battlefield, there have been explosions, there have been missile strikes."

“The number of strikes, the number of regions of Ukraine which are targeted, the number of air raid sirens…this is abnormal, even by our standards,” Sak continued.

Wednesday marks both the 31st anniversary of Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union and the six-month anniversary of the start of the war.