Russian Drone Strike Kills 13 at Dnipro Station

A Russian drone struck a crowded platform at Dnipro railway station on Thursday, killing at least 13 people and injuring at least 10 while trains stood nearby. Ukrainian Railways said the attack hit train No. 866 Dnipro–Zaporizhzhia. The platform was full of people, although authorities had issued an elevated threat alert before the attack.

Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha reported 13 dead and at least five wounded on Telegram. Ukraine's national police counted at least 10 injured, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 13 people had been confirmed dead. The official accounts differed on the number of injuries.

The platform under fire

Zelenskyy called the strike “horrific.” He said Russian forces attacked a platform “where a regular commuter train and a regular passenger train were standing.” He posted pictures from Ukrainian rescue services, showing a large hole in the platform, blurred bodies and a burned-out train with smashed windows. Ukrainian authorities and rescue services supplied the images and casualty reports.

Rail company chief Oleksandr Pertsovsky said officials had issued the threat alert before the drone hit. “There were still a large number of people on the platform,” he wrote on Facebook. The alert didn't clear the station. Passengers remained exposed beside the trains.

Since the first days of Russia's 2022 invasion, Russian forces have fired drones at trains across Ukraine, destroying hundreds of locomotives and killing several railway workers, the report said. In September, the national railway operator told AFP, officials evacuated passengers from more than 5,800 Ukrainian train services because of the threat of Russian drone strikes. Railways remain part of everyday movement. The attacks and evacuations make that movement a matter of risk.

Escalation and sanctions

Zelenskyy said the attack showed that “fair and decisive actions by America and Europe are needed against Russian escalation.” He criticised a deal reached earlier in October between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to ease some sanctions on Russia, allowing Moscow to release diesel onto global markets.

“How many such terrorist strikes has Russia carried out against our people since sanctions were lifted on some Russian oligarchs and energy sector, instead of de-escalating,” Zelenskyy asked. He said sanctions against Moscow and its “war machine” must not be weakened while the war continues, and called for “stronger sanctions steps by the EU, the United States and the G7.” Those are his demands; the report gives no response from the governments involved.

Russian attacks elsewhere in Ukraine killed at least five more people, including two teenage girls in the northern city of Chernigiv. In a separate account, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 613 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles flew toward the Moscow region between Wednesday night and Thursday morning. He said the Defence Ministry's air-defence forces neutralised most on distant approaches and destroyed 231 on the approach to Moscow. The city was hosting a Russia-Africa summit.

Talks still pending

Euronews reported that Moscow and Kyiv were preparing to resume US-mediated peace talks next month. On Sunday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine, the United States and Russia were set to hold trilateral talks in November to revive stalled negotiations. The planned talks come as attacks continue: the dead and injured at the rail station, casualties elsewhere in Ukraine, and drone claims around Moscow mark a war whose governments are still discussing terms.