At least 13 people were killed and another 10 injured in central Ukraine on Thursday after a Russian drone struck a crowded platform at Dnipro railway station.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack hit a platform where both a commuter service and a long-distance passenger train were waiting.
“Sadly, 13 deaths have been confirmed so far,” Mr Zelensky wrote in a social media statement.
Ukrainian Railways, the state rail operator, said the station was struck by a Russian jet-powered drone.
The company said the blast hit one of the platforms while train No. 866, traveling from Dnipro to Zaporizhzhia, was stationed there.
Oleksandr Pertsovsky, the rail operator’s chief, said authorities had already issued an elevated threat warning before the strike.
However, he said a significant number of passengers remained on the platform when the Russian drone attack took place.
Mr Zelensky urged the United States and European countries to respond to what he described as a devastating attack on civilians.
Emergency workers operate at a railway station damaged by a Russian drone strike amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine, October 29, 2026
Emergency workers transport an injured person after Thursday’s Russian drone strike on the railway station
Authorities said 13 people died and 10 others were injured in the attack
“America and Europe must take fair and forceful measures in response to Russia’s escalation,” he said in a post on X.
Russian forces have targeted railway services with drones since the invasion began in 2022, destroying hundreds of locomotives and killing multiple rail workers, according to Ukrainian officials.
The national rail operator told AFP that passengers had to be evacuated from more than 5,800 Ukrainian train services in September alone because of warnings about potential Russian drone attacks.
Ukraine’s extensive railway system remains essential to daily life and wartime travel, with some journeys between the country’s eastern and western regions lasting as long as 24 hours.
The railway station attack came as Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed that its air-defence systems had intercepted 1,214 Ukrainian drones overnight, describing the incident as one of Kyiv’s largest drone offensives.
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Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said approximately half of the drones had been heading toward the Russian capital.
Ukraine, meanwhile, reported that Russia had launched 112 drones against seven locations across the country.
The latest violence also comes as humanitarian aid is expected to reach the badly affected city of Oleshky on Friday. A localized Russia-Ukraine ceasefire has entered its third day while military units work to remove landmines from the area.
Mr Zelensky appealed to the United States and Europe for action after the deadly railway station attack
Moscow and Kyiv have observed the truce in and around the devastated southern Ukrainian city since Tuesday, despite remaining locked in war since Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbour more than four-and-a-half years ago.
Previous efforts to secure ceasefires either never worked out, or the truces quickly fell apart.
The planned six-day ceasefire around Russian-occupied Oleshky has also brought a rare and welcome stillness for civilians in the nearby city of Kherson, which is held by Ukraine and has also been wracked by the war.
Moscow and Kyiv are keen to curry favour with Washington ahead of possible three-way talks next month between Russia, Ukraine and the United States.
American military support is vital for Ukraine, but US President Donald Trump has recently indicated that he is disengaging with Kyiv as he waived sanctions on Russia and publicly chided Zelensky.
Tankers carrying Russian diesel are currently sailing to the US, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to America for a G20 ministerial meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, starting Friday, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
European leaders, on the other hand, have been trying to diplomatically isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion and what they call a campaign of sabotage across the continent.
Ukraine earlier this month reported sudden and unexpected limits on Starshield, the military-grade version of the Starlink satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX that is the backbone of Ukraine’s drone operations and communications.
Putin said that Russia has been in contact with the American tech titan to coordinate their orbiting activities because it is building its own equivalent of Starlink.
‘Elon Musk is a genius. Truly, a real genius,’ Putin said late Wednesday.
‘We and our American partners value this relationship, and despite all the political issues, we continue to work closely together,’ he added.
This is a breaking news story, more to follow.