A recent drone attack by Russia on a passenger train in northeastern Ukraine resulted in the deaths of five individuals, confirmed by prosecutors. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the incident as an act of terrorism. The attack occurred near a village in the Kharkiv region, where remnants of five bodies were discovered. The train was traveling from Chop, near Ukraine’s western borders with Hungary and Slovakia, to the town of Barvinkove. Visual evidence online displayed two carriages engulfed in flames beside a snow-covered railbed.
Zelenskyy emphasized the gravity of the situation, stating that drone strikes on civilian trains are universally recognized as acts of terrorism with no military justification. Prosecutors disclosed that one drone targeted the train, while two others struck an adjacent area. The President mentioned that over 200 passengers were on board, with 18 individuals in the affected carriage. Government officials earlier reported 155 passengers on the train, with Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba labeling the coordinated drone assault as a direct act of Russian terrorism.
Following the train attack, Russian drones also targeted the southern city of Odesa overnight, resulting in three fatalities and 25 injuries. Zelenskyy criticized Russia for launching over 50 drones in a brutal assault on Odesa, undermining diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the conflict. The Governor of Odesa revealed that among the wounded were two children and a pregnant woman, with numerous residential buildings, a church, a kindergarten, and a high school sustaining damage.
In related incidents, the city of Kharkiv and a western region in Ukraine were also subjected to drone and missile attacks. The Mayor of Kharkiv reported a significant power outage affecting 40% of households following the assaults. Ukrainian air defenses successfully neutralized 135 out of 165 Russian drones deployed during the attacks. Zelenskyy called on international allies to increase pressure on Moscow to ensure genuine peace negotiations and provide robust security assurances to prevent further Russian aggression.
