Russian drone attack on Ukrainian train station kills at least 13, officials say

Russian drone strike on Ukrainian train station leaves at least 13 dead, officials say

At least 13 people were killed after a Russian jet-powered drone struck a crowded platform at Dnipro railway station in the country’s north, Ukrainian officials said.

Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said at least 10 more people were injured in the attack, among them an 11-year-old boy.

Ukrzaliznytsia, the Ukrainian railway operator, said a train bound for Zaporizhzhia was standing at one of the platforms in Dnipro when the drone hit.

Moscow has repeatedly attacked Ukraine’s extensive railway network, though it denies intentionally targeting civilians.

In another part of Ukraine, two 15-year-old girls were killed in a Russian missile strike on the centre of Chernihiv city in the north of the country, regional head Vyacheslav Chaus said. He added that at least 11 others, including more children, were wounded.

In Dnipro, an elevated threat level had been announced before Thursday’s strike, according to Ukraine Railways head Oleksandr Pertsovsky.

“But unfortunately there were still a large number of people on the platform,” he said.

Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov called the incident a tragedy, saying a drone struck a civilian electric train.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “the Russians used a drone to attack a platform where a regular commuter train and a regular passenger train were standing.”

He urged further US, European and G7 sanctions on Russia after the incident and repeated his criticism of a controversial deal reached earlier this month between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, which eased some sanctions on Russia and allowed the US to import Russian diesel.

Russia’s defence ministry denies targeting Ukrainian civilians and says its railway strikes are aimed at infrastructure used to move military personnel and equipment.

Still, the risk to passengers is very real. Attacks on Ukraine’s rolling stock and stations have increased sharply.

Of the 521 locomotives hit since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, almost 60% have been hit this year, according to statistics released by Ukrzaliznytsia and provided to AFP news agency. Overall attacks on railway facilities have risen from 1,206 in 2025 to 1,700 so far this year.

There also appears to have been a broader assault on Ukraine’s infrastructure in recent weeks, with two bridges attacked in Kyiv and a metro train hit during one of the strikes.