Dozens of people have been injured in a “savage” Russian drone strike on a railway station in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at least 30 people were wounded in the attack on Shostka, a city about 40 miles from the Russian border. Three children were among those taken to hospital, according to a Facebook post by Oleksandr Pertsovsky, who is head of Ukraine’s national rail operator, Ukrzaliznytsia.
Mr Zelensky said: “A savage Russian drone strike on the railway station in Shostka, Sumy region… The Russians could not have been unaware that they were striking civilians. And this is terror the world must not ignore.”
Russia struck two passenger trains in quick succession. Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said the first hit a local service and the second a train bound for Kyiv. Mr Zelensky wrote on social media: “All emergency services are already on the scene and have begun helping people. All information about the injured is being established.”
Mr Kuleba wrote on Telegram: “Medical teams have already transported the injured to hospitals and are providing necessary assistance. Others (who were at the site) are in shelters overseen by rescuers.”
Both Mr Zelensky and local Governor, Oleh Hryhorov, posted what they said were photos of the scene. These showed a smashed in carriage on fire.
Moscow has recently upped its airstrikes on Ukraine’s railway network, which is essential for military transport. It has been hit almost every day over the past two months.
The Kremlin has also ramped up attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, in what Kyiv describes as an attempt to weaponise winter by denying civilians heat, light and running water.
Overnight, Russian drones and missiles pounded Ukraine’s power grid again. It came a day after what officials described as the biggest attack on Ukrainian natural gas facilities since Russia’s all-out invasion was launched in February 2022.
The strike damaged energy facilities near Chernihiv, a northern city west of Shostka. It sparked blackouts which were expected to affect some 50,000 households, according to regional operator Chernihivoblenergo.
The head of Chernihiv’s military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynskyi, confirmed a Russian attack on the city at night caused multiple fires. He didn’t immediately confirm what was hit.
Ukrainian officials said the day before that strike Russia launched its biggest attack of the war against natural gas facilities run by Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz Group.
Russia fired a total of 381 drones and 35 missiles at Ukraine on Friday, according to Ukraine’s air force.
Naftogaz’s chief executive, Serhii Koretskyi, said on Friday the attacks had no military purpose. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko accused Moscow of “terrorising civilians”. Moscow claimed the strikes targeted facilities supporting Kyiv’s war effort.
Russian forces launched a further 109 drones and three ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian military reported. It said 73 of the drones were shot down or pushed off course.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military on Saturday reported it had hit one of Russia’s largest oil refineries again. It said a drone strike caused blasts and a fire at the Kirishi refinery near St Petersburg, over 745 miles from the Ukrainian border.
The refinery, operated by Russian oil major Surgutneftegas, produces close to 355,000 barrels per day of crude and is one of Russia’s top three by output.
Telegram news channels from Russia and Ukraine posted videos said to have been sent in by locals near the city of Kirishi. They show drone-like objects whizzing against a night sky lit up by an orange glow, as blasts thunder in the background.