A Russian drone struck a crowded railway platform in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, killing at least 14 people as passengers prepared to board a train, while separate attacks across Ukraine killed five more people.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian drone struck a crowded railway station in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, killing at least 14 people and injuring others as passengers waited for a train to depart, according to Ukrainian officials.
The Oct. 29 attack hit a platform at Dnipro’s main railway station, where a commuter train was preparing to leave for Zaporizhzhia, a city approximately 50 miles to the south.
Ukrainian authorities initially reported 13 deaths before the toll increased to at least 14, according to the latest Reuters report.
Ukraine’s state railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said the attack involved a jet-powered drone that struck a platform occupied by passengers and railway personnel.
The company’s statement identified the affected service as train No. 866, which was scheduled to travel from Dnipro to Zaporizhzhia.
Despite warnings of an increased threat, passengers remained on the platform when the drone struck.
Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov described the incident as a tragedy, confirming that a drone had struck a civilian passenger train.
“Many people were killed. Lots were injured,” Filatov said in a statement published on Telegram.
Emergency personnel, firefighters, police officers and medical teams responded to the station, where rescuers transported injured passengers for treatment and examined the damaged railway equipment.
Photographs released by Ukrainian emergency services showed destroyed sections of the platform, damaged passenger carriages and shattered windows.
According to Agence France-Presse, Ukraine’s air force reported intercepting three jet-powered drones during the daytime assault, while a fourth penetrated the country’s air defenses and struck the station.
Oleksandr Pertsovsky, the head of Ukrainian Railways, said authorities had issued warnings about the elevated danger before the attack.
“But unfortunately there were still a large number of people on the platform,” Pertsovsky said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strike, describing it as “horrific” and calling for additional international pressure on Moscow.
Zelensky said the drone struck a platform “where a regular commuter train and a regular passenger train were standing.”
The president also criticized recent decisions to ease certain economic sanctions against Russia, arguing that the measures had not encouraged Moscow to reduce its military operations.
“Just how many terrorist strikes has Russia carried out against our people since sanctions were lifted on certain Russian oligarchs and the Russian energy sector, rather than de-escalating?” Zelensky wrote on social media.
He urged Ukraine’s international partners to maintain economic pressure on Russia.
“Sanctions against Moscow and its war machine must not be eased for as long as this Russian war continues,” Zelensky said.
The railway station attack was part of a broader series of Russian strikes across Ukraine on Thursday that killed at least 19 people.
In the northern city of Chernihiv, two teenage girls were killed when a Russian drone struck a busy downtown street. Local officials reported 23 additional injuries.
Dmytro Bryzhynskyi, head of Chernihiv’s military administration, said the victims were ordinary residents carrying out their daily activities.
“Ordinary, peaceful people were attacked who were just going to work, going about their daily business, making plans for the day,” Bryzhynskyi said.
Another Russian strike hit a residential apartment building in the central city of Kremenchuk, killing three people and injuring 15, according to regional authorities.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergiy Koretskyi accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilian locations, including public transportation and residential buildings.
“Russia is deliberately hunting civilians: on trains, at stations, in residential buildings,” Koretskyi said.
“There is no justification for this terror, and there never can be.”
Russia has repeatedly denied deliberately targeting civilians during its military operations in Ukraine.
The attack on Dnipro follows months of intensified drone and missile strikes against Ukrainian transportation networks, energy facilities and other infrastructure.
Railways remain essential to Ukraine’s transportation system, particularly because civilian aviation has been severely restricted since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Passenger trains transport civilians between major cities while the railway network also supports humanitarian deliveries, evacuation operations and economic activity.
According to Ukrainian railway officials, more than 5,800 passenger train services required evacuations during September because of Russian drone threats.
The widespread use of drones has complicated efforts to protect civilian railway operations, particularly in areas within range of Russian launch sites.
Ukraine has also faced shortages of air-defense missiles as its military attempts to intercept incoming drones and ballistic missiles.
Thursday’s attacks occurred while Russia and Ukraine were observing a limited humanitarian ceasefire in part of the southern Kherson region.
The six-day arrangement, negotiated with U.S. assistance, was intended to permit humanitarian aid to reach the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky, where residents have faced serious shortages of food, water and medicine.
The agreement applied only to the specified area and did not establish a nationwide ceasefire.
Ukrainian officials said the local truce remained in effect despite continued Russian strikes elsewhere in the country.
Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets announced that a delegation was traveling toward Oleshky through Belarus and Russia as part of the humanitarian effort.
The arrangement comes ahead of anticipated U.S.-mediated discussions between Moscow and Kyiv in November, although previous negotiations have failed to produce a comprehensive peace agreement.
Russia continues to demand territorial concessions and military restrictions on Ukraine, while Kyiv maintains that any settlement must protect its sovereignty and future security.
The strike on Dnipro underscores the continuing danger facing Ukrainian civilians as military operations persist alongside limited diplomatic efforts.
With the death toll at the railway station rising from the initial figure of 13 to at least 14, authorities were continuing rescue operations and assessing the full extent of the damage Thursday.
Ukrainian officials have not announced a final casualty count or released the identities of all victims.
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