A Russian drone has hit a passenger train, killing a 71-year-old man and injuring dozens of others, including children, in the latest strike against a civilian target in the Kremlin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The train was a regular service running to Kyiv from Shostka, in the northeastern Sumy region, local authorities said.
"It was a targeted attack on a civilian facility -- dozens of people were there boarding trains at the time," regional governor Oleh Hryhorov wrote on Telegram on October 3.
Video posted on social media showed a Ukrainian railways passenger carriage in flames, with black smoke rising from twisted metal.
In his post, Hryhorov said that, after the initial strike, another Russian drone circled above the station, hindering cleanup efforts. "Then the Russians launched a second strike," he added.
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service filmed the aftermath of the attack, capturing the moment a second drone flew over the scene.
Russia is systematically attacking Ukraine's railway infrastructure, trying to paralyze logistics, including the transportation of military cargo.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media that “dozens of people are already known to have been injured,” while regional Governor Oleh Hrihorov said that casualties were being counted.
Zelenskyy added that 30 people were injured, while Hrihorov reported eight people were hospitalized. "Among the injured are three children aged 8, 11, and 14," he wrote.
“This is terror that the world has no right to ignore. Every day, Russia takes people's lives. And only force can force them to stop it. We have heard strong statements from Europe and America, and it is high time to make them all a reality,” Zelenskyy wrote.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen also condemned the attack.
"The shocking scenes emerging from Shostka railway station highlight Russia’s reckless and continued willingness to target civilians," she wrote.
"The EU and its global partners must continue ramping up the pressure on Russia until it finally accepts a just and lasting peace," she added.
The attack comes at a time when prospects for peace seem as distant as ever as Russia's full-scale invasion nears the four-year mark.
As the US effort to broker a peace deal has brought little progress; the positions of Ukraine and Russia remain far apart.
US President Donald Trump has so far not succeeded in organizing a trilateral summit or a face-to-face meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, with Moscow seeking to avoid direct talks.
Earlier on October 4, Ukrainian military reported a relatively light night of Russian attacks, with 109 Shahed, Gerber, and other types of drones, as well as three Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles.
Ukraine Hits Russian Oil Industry
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones struck one of the largest oil refineries in Russia overnight from October 3-4, according to Russian and Ukrainian authorities, the latest blows in a campaign of attacks on an industry which is crucial to financing the Kremlin’s military.
The Kirishinefteorgsintez oil refinery, which has already been repeatedly subjected to Ukrainian strikes, is located in Kirishi in Russia’s Leningrad region.
"Explosions and a fire were recorded at the facility. The results of the damage are being clarified. The Kirishi oil refinery is one of the largest refineries in the territory of the aggressor country. Its annual capacity is 18.4 million tons of oil processing per year," said a statement by the Ukrainian general staff.
“Air defense is working against drones in Kirishi. There is a fire in the industrial zone. Fire services are fighting the blaze,” Leningrad Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko wrote on social media.
In recent months, Kyiv has intensified its attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, which appear to be causing fuel shortages and price increases inside Russia.
On October 3 in Russia's Orsk region, located approximately 1,400 kilometers (840 miles) from the front lines in Ukraine, regional Governor Yevgeniy Solntsev said "enemy drones" attacked a local industrial facility.
A number of videos posted on social media, verified by RFE/RL, appeared to show huge pillars of smoke rising from the local major oil refinery, Orsknefteorgsintez.
Later in the day, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) confirmed that its drones carried out the attack.
