Russian drone attack on Dnipro railway station kills at least 14, Ukraine says

At least 14 people were killed when a Russian jet-powered drone struck a crowded platform at the main railway station in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, local officials have said.

Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said at least 14 others were wounded, including an 11-year-old boy. Ukraine's state railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said a passenger train headed for the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was at one of the platforms when the drone hit.

'A large number of people on the platform'

Oleksandr Pertsovsky, the railway operator's chief, said an elevated threat level had been announced ahead of Thursday's strike, but that "unfortunately there were still a large number of people on the platform" when the drone struck.

Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov called the incident a tragedy and said a drone hit an electric civilian train. Pictures from the Ukrainian rescue services showed a large hole in a platform strewn with blurred-out bodies, near a blast-damaged train with smashed windows.

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 called for further US, European and G7 sanctions on Russia, and repeated his criticism of a deal struck earlier this month between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that eased some sanctions, allowing the US to import Russian diesel.

Russia's military has not publicly commented. Moscow has repeatedly hit Ukraine's large railway network but denies deliberately targeting civilians.

Further strikes in Chernihiv and Kremenchuk

Elsewhere in Ukraine, two girls aged 15 were killed in a Russian missile attack on the centre of the northern city of Chernihiv, regional head Vyacheslav Chaus said. At least 25 others, including four children, were injured.

In Kremenchuk, in the central Poltava region, three people were killed and 28 injured in a Russian drone attack that hit residential buildings and a school, regional head Vitaliy Diakivnych said. A day of mourning has been declared for Chernihiv and Dnipro on Friday.

The strikes came during efforts to uphold a fragile ceasefire in the besieged city of Oleshky, which has been under Russian occupation since 2022. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said on Telegram the truce was holding into a third day.

Rail network under pressure

Russia's defence ministry has always denied targeting Ukrainian civilians and says its attacks on railways target infrastructure used to transport military personnel and equipment.

Attacks on Ukraine's rail infrastructure have risen sharply. Of 521 locomotives hit since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, almost 60% have been hit this year, according to statistics released by Ukrzaliznytsia and supplied to AFP news agency. In recent weeks two bridges have been attacked in the capital Kyiv, and a metro train was hit during one of the strikes.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has condemned Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow as the city hosts the Russia-Africa Summit, the Tass news agency reported. The mayor of Moscow said 613 Ukrainian drones were launched overnight towards the region, most of which were shot down.

Source: BBC World.