Russian drone strike kills 5, injures at least 7 on passenger bus in Ukraine
A Russian drone struck a passenger bus in southern Ukraine early Wednesday, killing five people and injuring at least seven, Ukrainian officials said, as Russian attacks continued to target civilian transport and infrastructure.
The strike took place in the Nikopol district of Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, near the southern front line. Regional military administration chief Oleksandr Hanzha said all five victims were killed at the scene and the seven injured were receiving medical treatment.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as an “atrocity”, saying the minibus had been struck with “no military rationale”.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy said the attack was part of Russia's continuing targeting of logistics and critical infrastructure.
He said a passenger train was also struck in the Mykolaiv region on Wednesday, damaging a railway station and a diesel locomotive. Nearly 170 passengers were evacuated before the strike, he said. An electric locomotive in the northwestern city of Kovel was also hit.
Ukraine seeks locomotives from partners
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russian strikes had damaged or completely destroyed more than 500 locomotives on Ukraine's rail network since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
More than half of those strikes have occurred this year, Sybiha said in a post on X on Tuesday, describing the attacks as systematic and aimed at disrupting logistics across the country.
He said Ukraine urgently needed replacement locomotives and called on international partners to help provide engines compatible with its 1,520-millimetre rail gauge and assist with financing.
In another post on Wednesday, Sybiha said Russian forces were striking passenger trains, locomotives, stations and railway routes despite knowing their importance to civilians, evacuations and the Ukrainian economy.
“This is not collateral damage. It is a systematic hunt for people and an attempt to paralyse civilian life,” he wrote.
Zelenskyy disputes claim of energy truce
The latest attacks came amid disagreement over a purported understanding between Russia and Ukraine on halting strikes against energy infrastructure.
In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Zelenskyy rejected an earlier statement by US President Donald Trump that the two sides had agreed to mutually stop attacks on each other's energy facilities.
Trump said in a social media post on Monday that an energy truce had been reached but did not provide details. Previous efforts to secure partial ceasefires have repeatedly broken down, with both sides accusing each other of violations.
Zelenskyy said the possibility of an energy truce had been discussed during a recent meeting in Kyiv with Trump's representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
He said Ukraine was prepared to agree to such a truce if Russia stopped attacking energy facilities altogether.
Meanwhile, 17 sites were damaged in Ukraine's Kyiv region between Tuesday and Wednesday morning, according to regional military administration chief Tymur Tkachenko.
The damaged sites included eight private homes, five vehicles, a municipal building, a hangar and a production facility.
Zelenskyy said the Kherson, Donetsk and Poltava regions had also come under attack.
Russia's Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defences had shot down 71 Ukrainian drones overnight. Acting Belgorod region governor Alexander Shuvayev said one person was killed and four others injured by Ukrainian strikes over the previous 24 hours.
