Ukraine's SBU security service

The Monastery of the Caves, also known as Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the holiest sites of Eastern Orthodox Christians, in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, March 23, 2023.

Ukraine's parliament voted Tuesday to ban the Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), a move Kiev says strengthens its independence as the country severs ties with institutions it considers aligned with Moscow.

Questions remained Thursday over the military plane crash that Russia said had killed dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers ahead of a planned prisoner exchange, with Moscow and Kiev trading accusations at the U.N. Security Council.

Russia has blamed Ukrainian forces for downing the IL-76 transport plane over the southern Belgorod region on Wednesday.

Bodies, packed bags and stuffed animals were flung to the ground outside the Ukrainian train station in the city of Kramatorsk after two rockets slammed into the busy hub for evacuees.

Earlier in the morning, AFP saw dozens of people throng the station desperate to flee a feared Russian advance on eastern Ukraine.