Russian strike on Kharkiv railway kills five
Passenger train damaged in the Russian attack in Kharkiv Oblast, Jan. 27 (Photo: Kharkiv regional Prosecutor’s Office / Telegram)
Russian drones attacked a passenger train near Yazykove, Kharkiv Oblast, killing five people and injuring others, local authorities said on Jan. 27. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strike as terrorism.
The train, traveling from Chop to Kharkiv to Barvinkove, carried more than 200 passengers at the time of the attack, Kharkiv regional Prosecutor’s Office said. Investigators recovered fragments of five bodies; DNA testing will be required to complete identification.
Firefighters extinguished a blaze that broke out after one of the drones struck a passenger car. Emergency responders initially reported four confirmed dead and additional body fragments. All rescue operations have since concluded, the State Emergency Service said.
The prosecutors later confirmed the death toll had risen to five, saying in a statement, “Fragments of five bodies have been found. Identification will be possible only after DNA examinations.”
In a video address, Zelenskyy said one drone hit a railcar carrying 18 people and another exploded near the train.
“In any country, a drone strike on a civilian train would be unequivocally classified as terrorism—no questions about that in Europe, America, the Arab world, China, or anywhere else,” he said.
“There is no military justification for killing civilians on a train. Russia must answer for this terror.”
Prosecutors said three Russian attack drones, believed to be Iranian-designed Shahed UAVs, were used in the strike.
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