Russian drone strike on Dnipro train station kills at least 14, officials say

A Russian drone struck a crowded platform at the main railway station in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, killing at least 14 people, Ukrainian officials said. Another 14 people were wounded, including an 11-year-old boy, according to Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Hanzha.

Ukraine’s state railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said a passenger train bound for the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was standing at a platform when the drone hit. President Volodymyr Zelensky said both a commuter train and a scheduled passenger train were at the platform, placing the strike amid ordinary civilian journeys.

Six of the wounded were in serious condition, regional authorities said. Ukrainian state broadcaster UATV reported that 13 people had been hospitalized and that the injured had suffered multiple shrapnel wounds. The 11-year-old boy was among those seriously hurt, while one man suffered injuries that cost him both legs.

Images released by Ukrainian emergency services showed rescuers carrying injured people away from the railway tracks and extensive damage beside passenger carriages. Train windows were shattered, and the platform bore the marks of the explosion. The photographs documented the immediate aftermath but did not establish the full extent of damage across the station.

Ukrzaliznytsia chief Oleksandr Pertsovsky said an elevated threat level had been announced before the attack. Nevertheless, many people remained on the platform when the drone struck, he said. His account highlighted the difficulty of protecting passengers at a busy station during an incoming aerial threat.

Ukraine’s air force said it had intercepted three jet-powered drones during the daytime attack, but a fourth reached the station. Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov said a civilian electric train had been hit. Russia’s military had not publicly commented on the strike, according to the BBC report.

The attack adds to repeated strikes on Ukraine’s railway network during Russia’s invasion. Rail services remain exposed to aerial attacks even as they carry passengers between cities, and damage to trains and stations can affect people far beyond the immediate blast site. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians.

Zelensky condemned the attack and urged Ukraine’s partners to maintain sanctions pressure on Russia. He argued that the strike demonstrated why restrictions on Moscow should not be eased while the war continued. French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the attack and called for a broader ceasefire rather than geographically limited arrangements.

The Dnipro strike came alongside reports of deadly attacks elsewhere in Ukraine, including Chernihiv and Kremenchuk. Attention remained on treatment for the wounded and further official assessments of the station attack. With several patients seriously injured, the reported casualty figures remained provisional.