At least 14 people killed in Russian attack on Dnipro train station

Russian attacks across Ukraine have killed at least 19 people, including 14 at a busy platform in the main train station in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, officials said.

State rail company Ukrzaliznytsia said on Thursday that a jet-powered Russian drone hit the platform where a train was preparing to leave for the nearby city of Zaporizhzhia.

Regional Governor, Oleksandr Hanzha, said on Telegram that at least 14 others were injured and six were in critical condition, including an 11-year-old boy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the attack as “horrific”.

“Just how many terrorist strikes has Russia carried out against our people since sanctions were lifted on certain Russian oligarchs and the Russian energy sector, rather than de-escalating?,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.

Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Audrey MacAlpine said Ukraine is experiencing a rise in attacks on its transport infrastructure.

“This marks a trend that we’ve seen lately here in Ukraine of Russian strikes targeting not only the country’s infrastructure, including energy installations, but also increasingly some of its transport logistics like railway stations and sometimes even those railways themselves,” MacAlpine said.

“Also, there has been a larger trend of mounting civilian casualties, according to UN human rights monitoring. Both Russia and Ukraine have seen their deadliest year of the war so far. This is all part of an upward trend that we’ve really noted here in Kyiv, with many, many attacks,” she added.

In Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, two teenagers were killed in a Russian attack on Thursday, while three people were killed in a separate strike on an apartment building in the central city of Kremenchuk.

Russia also targeted Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, damaging an educational institution, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.

Russian news agencies, citing the Ministry of Defence, reported that its forces struck a cargo vessel used by the Ukrainian military in the Black Sea.

Drone attacks

Meanwhile, Russia downed most of the 613 drones launched towards Moscow overnight, in a major attack on the Russian capital, state news agency TASS reported.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that air defence forces destroyed 231 of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on approach to the city, with the remainder neutralised on distant approaches between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

The Kremlin condemned the attacks on Moscow as the city hosts more than 22 African leaders at a summit, TASS reported.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “very strange” for Kyiv to target Moscow during this time.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its air defence intercepted and destroyed 1,214 Ukrainian drones overnight across regions.

Debris from downed drones also caused minor damage after falling onto the territory of an unnamed industrial facility in Sterlitamak, the second-largest city in Russia’s Bashkortostan region, Mayor Emil Shaimardanov said on Telegram.

He said the plant was operating as usual and that local air defence forces had shot down all eight Ukrainian drones involved in the attack.

The attack marks the latest in a series of major drone assaults targeting the Moscow region, following a record attack in September during which air defence forces reported shooting down more than 1,600 drones.

Both sides have reported an increase in attacks in recent months, while Moscow and Kyiv also prepare to resume peace talks next month with US mediation.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian delegation has headed to the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky, where a localised ceasefire is under way to provide humanitarian aid to the remaining residents.

The Kremlin also said it hopes aid will reach Oleshky on Thursday or Friday and that those wanting to leave the town were able to do so, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.

So far, neither Ukraine nor Russia has reported any violations of the six-day ceasefire, which took effect early Tuesday.