At least 1 dead and dozens injured as Russian drones strike a Ukrainian railway station

Russian drones struck a Ukrainian railway station on Saturday, killing one and wounding dozens, as Moscow stepped up strikes on Ukraine’s rail and power grids before the fourth winter since its all-out invasion.

At least 30 people were wounded in the “savage” attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said following the attack on Shostka, a city in the Sumy region northeast of Kyiv that lies about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the Russian border. Hours later, local prosecutors said that a 71-year-old man was found dead in one of the wrecked carriages.

Russia struck two passenger trains in quick succession, first targeting a local commuter service and then one bound for Kyiv, said Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister. He said that the second drone hit while an evacuation was underway.

The head of Ukraine’s national rail operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, Oleksandr Pertsovsky, called the strike “a vile attack aimed at stopping communication with our front-line communities.”

“This is one of the most brutal Russian tactics – the so-called ‘double tap,’ when the second strike hits rescuers and people who are evacuating,” said Ukraine’s top diplomat, Andrii Sybiha, according to a Telegram post by the Foreign Ministry.

Both Zelenskyy and local Gov. Oleh Hryhorov posted what they said were photos from the scene showing a passenger carriage on fire. The drone strikes also knocked out the power supply in Shostka, home to more than 70,000 people before the war, and surrounding areas, according to Hryhorov.

Elsewhere in the Sumy region, a Russian drone struck a fishing boat on a lake near the border, killing a 63-year old man and wounding his 65-year old companion, local prosecutors said Saturday.

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 the war began. Friday’s strike damaged energy facilities near Chernihiv, a northern city west of Shostka, and sparked blackouts set to affect about 50,000 households, according to regional operator Chernihivoblenergo.

The attack was the biggest so far targeting natural gas facilities run by Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz Group, Ukrainian officials said.

Naftogaz’s chief executive, Serhii Koretskyi, said Friday that 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.

Russian forces overnight launched a further 109 drones and three ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian military reported. It said 73 of the drones were shot down or sent off course.

The Ukrainian military on Saturday reported it again hit one of Russia’s largest oil refineries. It said a nighttime drone strike caused blasts and a fire at the Kirishi refinery near St. Petersburg, more than 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The refinery, operated by Russian oil major Surgutneftegas, produces close to 17.7 million metric tons per year (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 they said had been sent in by residents 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.

Local Gov. Alexander Drozdenko on Saturday reported that seven drones were shot down overnight near Kirishi. He said that a fire had been put out in its “industrial zone,” without specifying what was hit or commenting on damage.

Ukraine has repeatedly struck the Kirishi refinery, with the most recent strike on Sept. 14 also sparking a blaze, according to Russian officials.

Russia remains the world’s second-largest oil exporter. But Moscow moved to pause gasoline exports after a seasonal rise in demand and sustained Ukrainian drone strikes have caused shortages in recent months.

Russian forces shot down 117 Ukrainian drones during the night, and at least 37 more on Saturday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow reported that day. A married couple and two other civilians were injured in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, after a drone struck an unspecified commercial facility, according to regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov.

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 and fourth French national to be killed while covering Russia’s full-scale invasion.