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At least 14 people have been killed after a Russian jet-powered drone struck a crowded platform at the main railway station in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, local officials reported.
Casualties and Train Impact
Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Hanzha stated that at least 14 other individuals sustained injuries in the strike, which included an 11-year-old boy. Ukraine’s state railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, confirmed that a passenger train bound for the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was positioned at one of the platforms when the drone hit.
An elevated threat level had been announced in Dnipro prior to the Thursday strike, according to Ukrzaliznytsia head Oleksandr Pertsovsky, who noted that numerous individuals remained on the platform. Pertsovsky explained, “But unfortunately there were still a large number of people on the platform.” Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov described the event as a tragedy, noting that the drone struck a civilian electric train.
Photographs released by Ukrainian rescue services displayed a massive hole torn into a platform scattered with bodies near a blast-damaged train featuring shattered windows. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Russian forces used a drone to target a platform where an ordinary commuter train and a regular passenger train were stationed.
Political Fallout and Additional Attacks
Following the incident, Zelensky urged the United States, Europe, and the G7 to impose additional sanctions on Russia. He also reiterated his criticism of a recent agreement between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that relaxed specific sanctions on Russia to permit US imports of Russian diesel.
In northern Ukraine, a separate Russian missile strike in the center of Chernihiv killed two 15-year-old girls, according to regional head Vyacheslav Chaus. Chaus added that at least 11 other people, including additional children, suffered injuries.
These strikes occurred concurrently with efforts to maintain a fragile local ceasefire in the occupied city of Oleshky, where residents have remained trapped without electricity, water, food, and medicine since 2022. Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported via Telegram that the truce entered its third day and mentioned he traveled with the Ukrainian delegation toward Oleshky via Belarus and Russia.
Escalation Against Infrastructure
Meanwhile, the Kremlin criticized Ukrainian drone attacks directed at Moscow while the city hosts the Russia-Africa Summit, as reported by the Tass news agency. The two-day gathering features African leaders and government delegations representing 48 nations. The mayor of Moscow stated that 613 Ukrainian drones were launched toward the region overnight, with the majority intercepted and shot down.
Russia’s defence ministry has consistently denied targeting Ukrainian civilians, maintaining that railway strikes focus strictly on infrastructure utilized for moving military personnel and equipment. Nonetheless, hazards for passengers continue to escalate as attacks on Ukrainian rolling stock and stations surge significantly. Figures provided by Ukrzaliznytsia to AFP indicate that nearly 60% of the 521 locomotives damaged since the beginning of the full-scale invasion have been hit during the current year, while total strikes on railway facilities climbed from 1,206 in 2025 to 1,700 thus far this year alongside recent attacks on two Kyiv bridges and a metro train.
