A Russian drone strike killed 14 people and injured 14 more at Dnipro’s main railway station in central Ukraine on Thursday.
The attack hit a platform where a passenger train bound for Zaporizhzhia was stationed, according to Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s state railway operator. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Oleksandr Hanzha initially reported 13 deaths and five injuries before revising the toll to 14 killed and 14 wounded, with six in serious condition. Among the injured was an 11-year-old boy, while a 40-year-old man required double leg amputations, Hanzha said.
Ukraine’s Air Force stated that four jet-powered drones targeted the Dnipropetrovsk region around 11 a.m., with three intercepted before one struck the station. Despite air raid warnings, many passengers remained on the platform, Ukrainian Railways said. Emergency services and medical teams responded to the scene, where authorities documented the aftermath.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strike as a “horrific Russian attack” and questioned the timing amid recent decisions to lift sanctions on Moscow. “How many such terrorist attacks has Russia carried out on our people after lifting sanctions on some Russian oligarchs and energy companies instead of de-escalating,” he wrote on social media. He called for stronger action from the United States and Europe, arguing that sanctions should remain in place while the war continues.
The attack left 25,000 people in Dnipro and the surrounding region without electricity, Hanzha reported. Later in the day, Mayor Borys Filatov said a separate drone strike hit a vocational school dormitory, igniting a fire on the fifth floor, though no injuries were reported as students had reached shelters.
International leaders swiftly condemned the strike. French President Emmanuel Macron called it “intolerable” that Russia continued to target civilians. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze described the attack as “mass murder,” stating that such actions “do not signal readiness for peace.” The UN’s humanitarian office in Ukraine, OCHA, said civilians preparing for travel or greeting relatives were confronted with “death and destruction,” with aid workers and displaced people at the station left in shock.
The strike is part of a broader Russian campaign against Ukraine’s railway infrastructure, with Ukrzaliznytsia reporting around 1,700 facilities hit since the start of 2026, including 120 passenger carriages, 304 locomotives, and 43 stations. The company has tightened safety measures, requiring passengers to evacuate trains during air raid alerts, causing significant delays.
