A Russian jet-powered drone struck a crowded platform at the main railway station in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, killing at least 13 people waiting to board trains, Ukrainian officials said.1,4,5
France 24 put the figure at 13, while the BBC, DW, the New York Post and Politico Europe put it at 14. DW said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the toll had risen to 14. Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said at least 14 others were wounded, including an 11-year-old boy. Ukraine's state railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said a passenger train headed for the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was at one of the platforms when the drone hit.1,2,3,4,5
Ukraine's state railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said a jet-powered drone struck the crowded platform on which people were waiting to board a regional train to Zaporizhzhia, about a two-hour journey to the south. Ukraine's air force said it had intercepted three jet-powered drones in the daytime attack, but that a fourth evaded its defences and hit the station. Images released by Ukrainian emergency services showed bodies on the platform, rescuers helping victims to safety and two burnt-out passenger trains with shattered windows, near a large hole in the platform.1,4,5
Railway chief Oleksandr Pertsovsky said an elevated threat level had been announced ahead of the strike. "Despite an increased threat warning, people were on the platform," the company said. "But unfortunately there were still a large number of people on the platform" when the drone struck, he said. Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov said the incident was a tragedy, adding that a drone hit an electric civilian train. The site has been sealed off while authorities continue their investigation.1,4,5
Zelensky said "the Russians used a drone to attack a platform where a regular commuter train and a regular passenger train were standing." He called the attack "horrific" and said it demanded a response from Kyiv's allies. "Sanctions against Moscow and its war machine must not be eased for as long as this Russian war continues," he said. Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergiy Koretskyi said, "Russia is deliberately hunting civilians: on trains, at stations, in residential buildings," adding, "There is no justification for this terror, and there never can be."1,4,5
Zelensky repeated criticism of a deal struck earlier this month between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which eased some sanctions on Moscow, allowing the United States to import Russian diesel and 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 energy sector, instead of de-escalating," he asked.1,4
Russia's military has not publicly commented on the Dnipro strike. It has repeatedly hit Ukraine's railway network, but Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians. Russia's defence ministry has always denied targeting Ukrainian civilians and says its attacks on railways target infrastructure used to transport military personnel and equipment. Meanwhile, the Kremlin condemned Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow while the city hosts the Russia-Africa Summit, the Tass news agency has reported. The mayor of Moscow said 613 Ukrainian drones were launched overnight towards the region, most of which were shot down during their flight. The two-day summit is attended by African leaders and government delegations from 48 countries.1
Elsewhere in Ukraine, officials reported other fatal Russian strikes. In the northern city of Chernihiv, two girls aged 15 were killed in an attack on the city centre. Regional head Vyacheslav Chaus said at least 25 others, including four children, were injured, while the head of the city's military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynsky, put the wounded at more than a dozen. In the central city of Kremenchuk in the Poltava region, regional head Vitaliy Diakivnych said three people were killed and 28 injured in a drone attack that hit residential buildings and a school, while the local governor was quoted as saying a drone slammed into a multi-storey residential building, killing two and wounding several, including a six-year-old. France 24 reported at least five others were killed across Ukraine in separate Russian attacks, according to local officials.1,4
The strikes came during efforts to uphold a fragile local ceasefire in the city of Oleshky, which has been under Russian occupation since 2022 and where residents have faced months of food, water and medicine shortages. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, wrote on Telegram that the truce was holding into a third day and announced that he had "set out with the Ukrainian delegation towards Oleshky" through Belarus and Russia. Zelensky said on Wednesday it would be a "huge success" if the local ceasefire in Oleshky, brokered by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, allowed for the evacuation of stranded citizens. Former residents in touch with those in the city told AFP that locals had resorted to hunting and eating pigeons in recent months.1,4
Russia has fired drones at trains since the first days of its 2022 invasion, destroying hundreds of locomotives and killing several railway workers. Of the 521 locomotives hit since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, almost 60 percent have been hit this year, according to statistics from Ukrzaliznytsia supplied to AFP. Overall attacks on railway facilities have risen from 1,206 in 2025 to 1,700 so far this year. In September alone, passengers were evacuated from more than 5,800 Ukrainian train services due to the threat of Russian drone strikes, the operator told AFP. Ukraine's train network remains vital transport, where journeys between east and west can take 24 hours. There appears to have been a wider assault on infrastructure in recent weeks, with two bridges attacked in Kyiv and a metro train hit during one of the strikes.1,4
A day of mourning has been declared for Chernihiv and Dnipro on Friday. Russia has intensified drone and missile attacks in recent weeks, hitting energy sites around major cities in what Kyiv says is a bid to plunge the country into cold and darkness throughout the winter, while the Kremlin earlier this week vowed not to let up in the overall pace of the war even as the sides prepare to restart stalled talks under U.S. mediation. Russia and Ukraine are to meet next month with U.S. envoys to discuss ways to end the conflict, with no firm dates set, after several previous rounds failed to move the sides closer to a deal. Russia demands more territory in eastern Ukraine and sweeping military and political restrictions on Kyiv, while Ukraine and its allies say ceding ground would amount to capitulation and leave Kyiv vulnerable to future attacks.1,4
