‘HORRIFIC’ RUSSIAN DRONE STRIKE KILLS 14 AT UKRAINIAN TRAIN STATION
Read Time:3 Minute, 39 Second
By Hotjist
At least 14 people have been killed after a Russian drone struck a crowded railway platform in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Thursday, in an attack President Volodymyr Zelensky described as “horrific” and said warranted a response from Kyiv’s allies.
The attack occurred as Ukraine and Russia sought to maintain a fragile local ceasefire in the war-ravaged city of Oleshky, which has been under Russian occupation since 2022 and where residents have endured months of shortages of food, water, and medicine.
Both countries said the truce had entered its third day, with Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, announcing that he had “set out with the Ukrainian delegation towards Oleshky” via Belarus and Russia.
Elsewhere, however, Russian forces continued their attacks on Ukraine.
Zelensky said the drone struck a platform at the Dnipro railway station “where a regular commuter train and a regular passenger train were standing.”
By early Thursday afternoon, Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha confirmed that the death toll had risen to 14.
Another 14 people were wounded, six of whom were in critical condition after suffering “multiple shrapnel wounds,” Ganzha said. The injured included an 11-year-old boy and a man who had “both legs amputated”.
Condemning the attack, Zelensky insisted that “sanctions against Moscow and its war machine must not be eased for as long as this Russian war continues.”
Images released by Ukrainian emergency services showed bodies on the platform, rescuers assisting victims, and two burnt-out passenger trains with shattered windows.
French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the strike, stressing the need for “far more than a localised ceasefire” such as the one in Oleshky.
“It is intolerable that Russia continues to reject all proposals to this end, choosing instead to pursue escalation and target civilians,” Macron said on X.
Zelensky criticises sanctions relief
Russia has targeted trains with drones since the early days of its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, destroying hundreds of locomotives and killing several railway workers.
Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted three jet-powered drones during Thursday’s daytime attack, but a fourth evaded its defences and struck the railway station.
Following the attack, Zelensky renewed his criticism of an agreement reached this month between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to ease some sanctions on Russia, allowing Moscow to release diesel onto global markets.
“How many such terrorist strikes has Russia carried out against our people since sanctions were lifted on some Russian oligarchs and the energy sector, instead of de-escalating,” he asked.
At least six other people were killed in separate Russian attacks across Ukraine, according to local officials.
Two teenagers killed in separate strikes
In another attack, a strike on the city centre of Chernihiv, north of Kyiv, killed two 15-year-old girls and wounded nearly two dozen people, including four children, according to the head of the city’s military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynsky.
A drone also struck a multi-story residential building in the central city of Kremenchuk, killing three people and wounding several others, including a six-year-old child, the local governor said.
Russia has intensified its drone and missile attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks, striking energy facilities around major cities in what Kyiv says is an attempt to plunge the country into cold and darkness during the winter.
The Kremlin vowed earlier this week to maintain the overall pace of its military campaign, even as both sides prepare to resume stalled negotiations under US mediation.
On Wednesday, Zelensky said it would be a “huge success” if the local ceasefire in Oleshky, brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump, enabled the evacuation of stranded residents.
Former residents who remain in contact with people in the city told AFP that some locals trapped there had resorted to hunting and eating pigeons in recent months.
Russia and Ukraine are expected to meet US envoys next month to discuss possible ways to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, although firm dates for the talks have yet to be announced.
Previous rounds of negotiations have failed to bring the two sides closer to an agreement.
Moscow is demanding additional territory in eastern Ukraine, alongside sweeping military and political restrictions on Kyiv.
Ukraine and its allies maintain that surrendering territory to Russia would amount to capitulation and leave the country vulnerable to further Russian attacks.
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