In a grave escalation of hostilities, Russian drones targeted two passenger trains in northern Ukraine’s Sumy region on Saturday, resulting in at least one fatality and numerous injuries, according to Ukrainian officials. The attack unfolded with a chilling precision: after the initial strike on the first train, as emergency responders rushed to aid the wounded and evacuate survivors, a second Russian drone deliberately hit another train nearby, as reported by witnesses and Ukrainian authorities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky swiftly condemned the incident, stating that dozens were injured and accusing Russia of intentionally striking civilians. Despite Russian denials of targeting civilian infrastructure, their forces have repeatedly hit civilian areas throughout the conflict, from apartment buildings and hospitals to bread lines and playgrounds.
“This is terror the world must not ignore,” Mr. Zelensky declared in a powerful statement.
Adding to the region’s plight, parts of Sumy had already been without power for three consecutive days when these drone attacks occurred. Ihor Saldyga, a local journalist, noted in a phone interview, “First they hit power infrastructure, then they struck the railway station several times. They were striking the locomotives with precision.”
This calculated assault on railway infrastructure marks the latest in a relentless campaign by Russia, spanning over three years, to systematically dismantle Ukraine’s vital services. It culminated a particularly violent week, which began last Sunday with a massive 12-hour bombardment involving approximately 600 drones and dozens of missiles across Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
Less than five days after that widespread attack, Russia launched its most extensive assault of the war against Ukrainian gas facilities. This barrage included nearly 400 drones and 35 cruise and ballistic missiles, primarily focused on gas infrastructure around Poltava in eastern Ukraine, where explosions reverberated from Thursday dusk until Friday dawn.
Further impacting critical sectors, an industrial farm in the Kharkiv region was also hit by drones, igniting a fire that tragically claimed the lives of an estimated 13,000 pigs, as reported by Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. Just a day prior, Russian forces targeted the power station supplying the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, causing a temporary blackout at the containment center designed to prevent radiological release after the 1986 meltdown. Power was quickly restored.
The attack on Chernobyl’s power supply coincided with a critical situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, near central Ukraine, which remains disconnected from the power grid. This alarming development has reignited safety fears, as the facility is now entirely dependent on diesel generators to power crucial cooling systems, essential for preventing nuclear fuel meltdown in its switched-off reactors.
Russian troops seized control of the Zaporizhzhia plant during the initial weeks of their full-scale invasion in early 2022, and it continues to operate under their occupation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, while accusing Ukraine of causing the outage without providing evidence, issued a stark warning. “This is a dangerous game, and people on the other side should also understand that if they’re going to play it so dangerously, they still have operating nuclear power plants on their side,” Mr. Putin stated during a speech in Sochi on Thursday. “And what’s stopping us from retaliating in kind? Let them think about that.”
Conversely, Ukrainian officials accuse Russia of deliberately orchestrating this crisis to justify a perilous move: reconnecting the plant to the Russian power grid. The diesel generators, currently sustaining the plant since its disconnection on September 23, are intended for short-term emergency use only.
Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency, issued an urgent statement on Friday, imploring both Russia and Ukraine to permit necessary repair work to safely restore power. As the Russian military intensifies its attacks on both civilian and military targets across Ukraine, Kyiv has pledged to retaliate by targeting Russian oil and gas facilities that finance Moscow’s ongoing war efforts.
In line with this vow, Ukrainian drones successfully struck one of Russia’s largest oil refineries before dawn on Saturday, according to both Russian and Ukrainian authorities. Mr. Zelensky has reiterated his promise to ensure that the impact of the war is deeply felt across Russia. “Russia chooses war, Russia destroys our people’s lives, and must be held accountable,” he affirmed.