Ukraine-Russia war latest: At least 30 injured after Putin strikes Kyiv-bound passenger train in ‘savage’ attack

Moscow stepped up strikes on Ukraine’s rail and power grids which is essential for military transport, hitting it almost every day over the past two months.

The head of Ukraine’s national rail operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, Oleksandr Pertsovsky, called the recent strike on a passenger train “a vile attack aimed at stopping communication with our front-line communities.”

Russia struck two passenger trains in quick succession, first targeting a local service and then a second bound for Kyiv, said Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister.

He said the second drone hit while an evacuation was underway.

“This is one of the most brutal Russian tactics — the so-called ‘double strike,’ when the second strike hits rescuers and people who are evacuating,” Ukraine’s top diplomat, Andrii Sybiha said, according to a Telegram post by the foreign ministry.

A 71-year-old man was found dead in one of the wrecked carriages following the “savage” attack on a passenger train heading to Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at least 30 people have been injured in the attack.

But hours later, local prosecutors said that a 71-year-old man was found dead in one of the wrecked carriages.

An attack on a passenger train in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region has left at least 30 people injured.

Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X: “The Russians could not have been unaware that they were striking civilians. And this is terror the world must not ignore.”

As the European Union pushes to fully sever its reliance on Russian energy and the administration of US president Donald Trump urges Nato members to abandon Russian oil, one country’s populist government stands firm.

Moscow has recently stepped up airstrikes on Ukraine’s railway network, which is essential for military transport, hitting it almost every day over the past two months. As in previous years since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, the Kremlin has also ramped up attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, in what Kyiv calls an attempt to weaponize the approaching winter by denying civilians heat, light and running water.

Overnight into Saturday, Russian drones and missiles pounded Ukraine’s power grid again, a Ukrainian energy firm said, a day after what officials described as the biggest attack on Ukrainian natural gas facilities since Moscow’s all-out invasion more than three and a half years ago.

The strike damaged energy facilities near Chernihiv, a northern city west of Shostka that lies close to the Russian border, and sparked blackouts set to affect some 50,000 households, according to regional operator Chernihivoblenergo.