A drone attack by Russia on a railway station in Shostka, northeastern Ukraine, left at least 30 people injured, including three children, as Moscow intensifies strikes on the country’s rail and power networks ahead of the fourth winter since its full-scale invasion.
"All emergency services are already on the scene and have begun helping people. All information about the injured is being established," he said in a post on X.
Three children were among those hospitalized, according to a Facebook post by the head of Ukraine's national rail operator, Ukrzaliznytsia. One of the company's employees, a cashier, was also treated at the hospital, Oleksandr Pertsovsky added.
Russia struck two passenger trains in quick succession, first targeting a local service and then one bound for Kyiv, said Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine's deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister.
"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," Kuleba wrote on Telegram on Saturday. He said an air raid alert was ongoing at the station.
Both Zelenskyy and local Gov. Oleh Hryhorov posted what they said were photos from the scene showing a passenger carriage on fire.
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 on Feb. 24, 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.
The head of Chernihiv's military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynskyi, confirmed a nighttime Russian attack on the city caused multiple fires, but did not immediately say what was hit.
The day before, Russia launched its biggest attack of the war against natural gas facilities run by Ukraine's state-owned Naftogaz Group, Ukrainian officials said.
Russia fired a total of 381 drones and 35 missiles at Ukraine on Friday, according to Ukraine's air force, in what officials said was an attempt to wreck the Ukrainian power grid ahead of winter and wear down public support for the 3-year-old conflict.
Naftogaz's chief executive, Serhii Koretskyi, said Friday the attacks had no military purpose, while Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko accused Moscow of "terrorizing civilians." Moscow claimed the strikes targeted facilities that support Kyiv's war effort.
Overnight into Saturday, Russian forces launched a further 109 drones and three ballistic missiles at Ukraine, the Ukrainian military reported. It said 73 of the drones were shot down or sent off course.
Elsewhere, a Russian drone strike killed a French photojournalist late Friday as he was reporting from the front lines in eastern Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian military.
Antoni Lallican, 37, died near the town of Druzhkivka, in the Donetsk region, according to a Facebook post by the 4th Separate Mechanized Brigade. The strike also wounded Hryhory Ivanchenko, a Ukrainian photographer who accompanied him, the military unit said.
Lallican's work had been featured by numerous French and international media outlets, including Le Monde, Le Figaro, Der Spiegel and Die Zeit. He was nominated for the RSF press photography award in 2024.
He is the 14th reporter to be killed while covering Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022. Three others were also French nationals: Arman Soldin, Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff and Pierre Zakrzewski.
