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Ukraine says at least 13 killed in Russian attack on train station / Photo: © UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE/AFP
Ukraine says at least 13 killed in Russian attack on train station
At least 13 people were killed Thursday when a Russian drone slammed into a crowded platform at the Dnipro railway station in central Ukraine, where trains were parked, authorities said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky labelled the strike "horrific" and said the Russians had attacked a platform "where a regular commuter train and a regular passenger train were standing".
"Unfortunately, as of now, 13 people have been confirmed dead," he wrote on social media, posting pictures from the Ukrainian rescue services showing a large hole ripped in a platform strewn with blurred-out bodies, near a burned-out train with smashed windows.
Ukrainian national police said at least 10 people were also injured in the strike.
Ukrainian Railways said a jet-powered Russian drone had hit a platform at the Dnipro train station "where train No. 866 Dnipro–Zaporizhzhia was at the time".
An elevated threat level had been announced, according to the rail company's chief, Oleksandr Pertsovsky.
"But unfortunately there were still a large number of people on the platform," he said on Facebook.
Russia has fired drones at trains across Ukraine since the first days of its 2022 invasion -- destroying hundreds of locomotives and killing several railway workers.
In September alone, passengers were evacuated from more than 5,800 Ukrainian train services due to the threat of Russian drone strikes, the national railway operator told AFP.
Zelensky said the attack showed that "fair and decisive actions by America and Europe are needed against Russian escalation".
He has harshly criticised a deal struck this month between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to ease some sanctions on Russia allowing Moscow to release diesel onto global markets.
"How many such terrorist strikes has Russia carried out against our people since sanctions were lifted on some Russian oligarchs and energy sector, instead of de-escalating," he asked.
"Sanctions against Moscow and its war machine must not be weakened as long as this Russian war continues," he said, demanding "stronger sanctions steps by the EU, the United States and the G7".
Russian attacks elsewhere on Ukraine killed at least another five people -- including two teenage girls in the northern city of Chernigiv.
G. Souza--JDB
