A Russian air attack on Saturday struck a train station in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, leaving at least 30 people injured and causing widespread damage.
The strike targeted the Shostka railway station, about 50 kilometres from the Russian border, as tensions between both nations continue to escalate.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the attack, saying that the strike hit a passenger train heading to Kyiv. Local authorities reported that emergency workers, including rescuers and medics, rushed to the site to treat victims and contain fires that broke out from the explosion.
The regional governor, Oleh Hryhorov, stated that a train departing for Kyiv was caught in the blast, while the acting mayor of Sumy, Artem Kobzar, said several passengers were among those injured. Images shared online showed a burning passenger carriage at the scene.
The latest attack comes amid a surge in Russian strikes on Ukraine’s transport and energy facilities over the past two months. Moscow’s forces have repeatedly targeted railway infrastructure across Ukraine, disrupting passenger and cargo services.
Just a day earlier, Russia launched one of its largest overnight air offensives, striking multiple regions and damaging energy facilities, including power grids and gas plants. The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy said nearly 50,000 homes in the northern Chernihiv region lost power as a result of the bombardment.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military claimed responsibility for a retaliatory drone strike on an oil refinery in Russia’s Leningrad region. Kyiv said it plans to continue targeting Russian energy infrastructure in response to Moscow’s ongoing air raids on Ukrainian cities and critical facilities