Russian drone strike on Dnipro railway station kills at least 14

At least 14 people have been killed after a Russian jet-powered drone hit a crowded platform at the main railway station in Dnipro, a central Ukrainian city, local officials said. Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said at least 14 others were wounded, including an 11-year-old boy. Ukraine's state railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said a passenger train bound for the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was standing at one of the platforms when the drone struck. Mayor Borys Filatov called the incident a tragedy and said the drone had hit an electric civilian train. Images released by Ukraine's rescue services showed a large hole torn in the platform, strewn with bodies, next to a blast-damaged train with smashed windows. The site has been sealed off as the investigation continues. Railway operator chief Oleksandr Pertsovsky said an elevated threat level had been announced ahead of Thursday's strike. "But unfortunately there were still a large number of people on the platform" when the drone hit, he said. President Volodymyr Zelensky said "the Russians used a drone to attack a platform where a regular commuter train and a regular passenger train were standing." He called for further sanctions from the United States, Europe and the G7, and repeated his criticism of a deal struck earlier this month between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that eased some sanctions on Moscow and allowed the US to import Russian diesel. Russia's military has not publicly commented on the strike. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians, and its defence ministry says its attacks on railways are aimed at infrastructure used to transport military personnel and equipment. However, the dangers to passengers are real and assaults on the rail network have risen sharply. Of the 521 locomotives hit since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022, almost 60% were struck this year, according to Ukrzaliznytsia statistics supplied to the AFP news agency. Overall attacks on railway facilities have risen from 1,206 in 2025 to 1,700 so far this year. Elsewhere in Ukraine, two 15-year-old girls were killed and at least 25 people, including four children, were injured in a Russian missile attack on the centre of the northern city of Chernihiv, regional head Vyacheslav Chaus said. In Kremenchuk, in the central Poltava region, three people were killed and 28 injured in a drone attack that hit residential buildings and a school, regional head Vitaliy Diakivnych said. A day of mourning has been declared for Chernihiv and Dnipro on Friday. The latest strikes came as efforts continued to uphold a fragile ceasefire in Oleshky, a city under Russian occupation since 2022 where residents have been trapped without food, water, medicine and electricity. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, wrote on Telegram that the truce was holding into a third day. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has condemned Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow while the city hosts the Russia-Africa Summit, the Tass news agency reported. The mayor of Moscow said 613 Ukrainian drones were launched overnight towards the region, most of which were shot down in flight. The two-day summit is attended by African leaders and government delegations from 48 countries. The station attack appears to form part of a wider assault on Ukrainian infrastructure in recent weeks. Two bridges in the capital, Kyiv, have been attacked, and a metro train was hit during one of the strikes.