Russia struck two passenger trains in quick succession, first targeting a local service and then a second bound for Kyiv, injuring at least 30 people, authorities in Ukraine said
At least 30 people were injured when a “brutal” Russian drone struck a passenger train on a Ukrainian railway station in an attack that was labelled as a “deliberate act of terror”.
Footage shows the moment of the strike as well as the carnage of a mangled engine and carriage ablaze after the attack in Shostka station. A desperate effort was underway to rescue the wounded and offer medical assistance.
Oleksandr Pertsovsky, the head of Ukraine’s railways, said in a Facebook post that two trains were hit. He added that three children and an employee were among the passengers injured. Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister, Russia struck two passenger trains in quick succession, first targeting a local service and then a second bound for Kyiv. He said the second drone hit while an evacuation was underway.
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky slammed the Shahed drone strike as Vladimir Putin’s latest gratuitous attack on civilians, pleading for the world to react to the horror. He wrote on X: “A savage Russian drone strike on the railway station in Shostka, Sumy region.
“All emergency services are already on the scene and have begun helping people. All information about the injured is being established. So far, we know of at least 30 victims. Preliminary reports indicate that both Ukrzaliznytsia staff and passengers were at the site of the strike.”
Zelensky stressed: “The Russians could not but know they were hitting civilians. And this is terror that the world has no right to ignore. Every day Russia takes people’s lives. And only force can make them stop.
“We have heard resolute statements from Europe and America, and it is long overdue to turn them all into reality. Together, with everyone who does not consider murder and terror to be normal. Words are not enough now. Strong actions are needed.”
One report said around 30 people were injured on the train from Shostka to Kyiv. Sumy region – which borders Russia – has been under bombardment for months. Regional governor Oleh Hryhorov said medics and rescuers were working on the scene.
Both Zelenskyy and local Gov. Oleh Hryhorov posted what they said were photos from the scene showing a passenger carriage on fire. The drone strikes also knocked out the power supply in Shostka, home to some 70,000 people before the war, and surrounding areas, according to Gov. Hryhorov.
Oksana Tarasiuk, head of the local district administration, said no fatalities were reported in the immediate aftermath. She described the strikes as a “despicable attack aimed at stopping communication with our frontline communities” while Zelensky’s top aide, Andriy Yermak, accused Russia of carrying out a “war against civilians” by deliberately targeting the station and train.
“This is one of the most brutal Russian tactics – the so-called ‘double strike,’ when the second strike hits rescuers and people who are evacuating,” Ukraine’s top diplomat, Andrii Sybiha, commented on Saturday, according to a Telegram post by the foreign ministry.
Moscow has recently stepped up airstrikes on Ukraine’s railway network, which is essential for military transport, hitting it almost every day over the past two months. As in previous years since the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, the Kremlin has also ramped up attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, in what Kyiv calls an attempt to weaponise the approaching winter by denying civilians heat, light and running water.
Overnight into Saturday, Russian drones and missiles pounded Ukraine’s power grid again, a Ukrainian energy firm said, a day after what officials described as the biggest attack on Ukrainian natural gas facilities since Moscow’s all-out invasion more than three and a half years ago. The strike damaged energy facilities near Chernihiv, a northern city west of Shostka that lies close to the Russian border, and sparked blackouts set to affect some 50,000 households, according to regional operator Chernihivoblenergo.
The day before, Russia launched its biggest attack of the war against natural gas facilities run by Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz Group, Ukrainian officials said. Russia fired a total of 381 drones and 35 missiles at Ukraine on Friday, according to Ukraine’s air force, in what officials said was an attempt to wreck the Ukrainian power grid ahead of winter and wear down public support for the three-year-old conflict.