At least five people were killed after a Russian drone struck a civilian passenger train in northeastern Ukraine, an attack President Volodymyr Zelensky described as terrorism.
Nearly 300 passengers were onboard the train, which was traveling toward frontline areas.
Ukrainian authorities say the strike targeted the locomotive and a passenger car, marking a rare direct attack on a civilian train amid intensified Russian assaults on rail and energy infrastructure.
At least five people have been killed after a Russian drone struck a civilian passenger train in northeastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials confirmed, in an incident President Volodymyr Zelensky described as terrorism.
The attack occurred in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, where emergency services responded to extensive damage to the train. Nearly 300 passengers were traveling onboard, many of whom regularly use the route to visit relatives and soldiers near the front lines.
Zelensky Describes Attack As Terrorism
President Zelensky condemned the strike in a statement posted on Telegram, stressing that the train was a civilian target.
“In any country, a drone strike on a civilian train would be regarded in the same way — purely as an act of terrorism,” Zelensky said, adding that “18 people were in the car hit by one of the Russian drones.”
Ukrainian prosecutors confirmed that the remains of five victims had been recovered, noting that identification would require DNA analysis.
Officials said a direct strike on a passenger train is rare, despite repeated Russian attacks on Ukraine’s rail infrastructure since the start of the war.
Ukraine’s national railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said two passengers were injured and one person remains missing.
The company announced that flags at railway stations across the country would be lowered and a minute of silence observed in memory of the victims.
According to Ukrzaliznytsia, the train was traveling from Chop and Lviv in western Ukraine to Barvinkove, a town near the edge of the Donetsk region and roughly 70 kilometers from active front lines.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said the drones struck the front of the locomotive and one passenger carriage.
Disruption To Rail Services Announced
Following the attack, Ukrzaliznytsia said it was temporarily reducing certain rail services, particularly in the Kharkiv region, warning that Russia was intensifying strikes on railway infrastructure.
“Punctuality and speed are important to us, but nothing is more important than safety,” the railway operator said, advising passengers to expect delays as special traffic conditions are introduced near frontline areas.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the attack as unacceptable and said he had spoken directly with Zelensky.
He criticized continued Russian strikes on civilians and energy infrastructure and pledged additional assistance to Ukraine, including power generators to help communities cope during winter.
Russia has previously carried out deadly attacks on railway targets in Ukraine, including a 2022 missile strike on a train station in Kramatorsk that killed dozens of civilians.
The train strike followed a wider overnight Russian assault on Ukraine, including attacks on the Odesa region that killed at least three people and injured many others. Zelensky said energy infrastructure and civilian facilities were targeted.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry reported persistent electricity shortages in Kyiv and several other regions, including Odesa, Kharkiv and Donetsk, due to sustained strikes on power facilities.
Further overnight attacks also hit the Kyiv region, where a missile destroyed part of an apartment building, killing two residents while their young child survived.
Russian authorities separately reported that a Ukrainian drone strike killed one man in the Belgorod region, according to state media citing local officials.
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