A Russian drone strike hit a crowded train station in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Thursday, October 29, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 14 others.
At least 14 people died when a drone struck a platform at Dnipro’s main train station, heightening fears for the safety of civilians who use the railways amid the ongoing conflict.
Oleksandr Hanzha, the regional head, reported that at least six people were critically injured, among them an 11 year old boy.
A Russian jet powered drone struck a platform at the train station operated by Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s state run railway company, leaving passengers injured.
At the moment of the attack, passengers were standing on the platform. Ukrainian authorities described the attack as a “devastating” blow to those who use the railways.
Railways play a crucial role in moving civilians across Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack and urged Ukraine’s international partners to step up their response.
“We ask our partners the United States, European countries and others not to stop the pressure on Moscow by imposing sanctions. Because this is what we see…Russia hitting us,” he said.
The Ukrainian government has on previous occasions appealed for greater international support to strengthen its air defences.
Further attacks reported
The strike in Dnipro followed reports of additional Russian attacks in other cities throughout Ukraine.
In a separate attack in Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine, two teenage girls were killed. Another attack on residential buildings in the central city of Kremenchuk killed three people.
This increases the civilian death toll from the most recent attacks.
Risk to the rail network
Ukraine’s rail system is essential for moving people, materials and vital goods, yet it has come under numerous attacks that have disrupted service and endangered passengers and staff.
Ukrainian railway officials have voiced fears about the danger posed by air strikes, including drones aimed at the rail network.
Russia has repeatedly denied deliberately targeting civilians and maintains that it strikes infrastructure connected to Ukraine’s war effort. Even so, individual attacks remain a major worry for Ukraine.
A limited ceasefire is currently in effect
News of the deadly rail attack emerged as a limited ceasefire was said to be in place in the southern Kherson region of Ukraine. A truce was arranged so that humanitarian aid could reach Oleshky, a town under Russian occupation. The United States was involved in brokering it.
Yet this was merely a localized ceasefire, and fighting and air strikes persist in other parts of the country.
These latest casualties underscore how the war, which started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, keeps exacting a toll on civilians.