Dozens were injured in a “savage” Russian drone strike Saturday on a Ukrainian railway station, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Moscow stepped up strikes on Ukraine’s rail and power grids ahead of the fourth winter since its all-out invasion.
At least 30 people sustained injuries, Zelenskyy said of the attack on Shostka, a city northeast of Kyiv that lies some 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the Russian border.
“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.
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.”
Russia struck two passenger trains in quick succession, first targeting a local service and then a second bound for Kyiv, said Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister. He said the second drone hit while an evacuation was underway.
“This is one of the most brutal Russian tactics — the so-called ‘double strike,’ when the second strike hits rescuers and people who are evacuating,” Ukraine’s top diplomat, Andrii Sybiha, commented on Saturday, 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 some 70,000 people before the war, and surrounding areas, according to Gov. Hryhorov.
Moscow pummels Ukraine’s rail and power networks
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 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.
Russia faces fuel shortages as Kyiv says it struck a major refinery
The Ukrainian military on Saturday reported it has 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 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.
French journalist killed in eastern Ukraine
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 of Ukraine, which began in 2022.
