A Russian drone struck a crowded railway station platform in Ukraine’s Dnipro yesterday, killing at least 14 people in what President Volodymyr Zelensky described as a “horrific” attack and called on Kyiv’s allies to respond.
The strike came as Ukraine and Russia strive to uphold a fragile local ceasefire in the ravaged city of Oleshky — under Russian occupation since 2022 and where residents have faced months of food, water and medicine shortages, reports AFP.
The truce was holding into its third day, both countries said, with the Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets announcing that he had “set out with the Ukrainian delegation towards Oleshky” through Belarus and Russia.
But elsewhere, Moscow continued to pummel Ukraine.
The strike at the Dnipro train station hit a platform “where a regular commuter train and a regular passenger train were standing”, Zelensky said. “Sanctions against Moscow and its war machine must not be eased for as long as this Russian war continues,” he added, slamming the attack as “horrific”.
Images released by Ukrainian emergency services showed bodies on the platform, rescuers helping victims to safety and two burnt-out passenger trains with their windows shattered.
Meanwhile, more than 600 Ukrainian drones were launched toward the Moscow region overnight, with most of them shot down, the Russian capital’s mayor said early yesterday as the city hosts a Russia-Africa summit. The leaders of 22 African countries were at the two-day meeting, according to the Kremlin.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that “613 UAVs flew towards the Moscow region” between Wednesday night and yesterday morning.
“Most were neutralised by the Defence Ministry’s air defence forces on the distant approaches. 231 drones were destroyed on the approach to Moscow,” he added.
