Russia launched a large overnight drone attack on Ukraine early Tuesday, hitting energy facilities and railway infrastructure in the Poltava and Sumy regions, Ukrainian officials said.
In the Poltava region, drones struck administrative and warehouse buildings, a locomotive depot, traction substations, and power supply lines, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said.
Railway rolling stock was damaged, and about 1,100 consumers – including 28 businesses – were left without electricity. Fires broke out in several administrative buildings, and one residential house and an outbuilding were damaged.
Russian forces again attacked the Nizhyn district of the Chernihiv region with drones - this time hitting an area near the railway station on the Nosivka-Nizhyn line, causing train delays.
The Nizhyn City Council reported on Facebook:
“The drone strike occurred near the railway station on the Nosivka-Nizhyn line. Currently, train traffic on one track is delayed. Temporary suspension of rail traffic is possible.”
On Oct. 7, Russian forces also struck Novhorod-Siverskyi. Several strike drones hit a civilian facility, causing fires to break out.
In Sumy, explosions were reported around 6 a.m. (0300 UTC), leaving parts of the city without power. Russian drones hit a civilian facility in the Zarichnyi district, damaging nearby homes. A trolleybus was also struck, and both the driver and a passenger sought medical assistance.
Authorities said no deaths were reported.
Several trains, including the Kharkiv–Lviv, Lviv–Kharkiv, and Kramatorsk–Lviv routes, were temporarily delayed but have since resumed service.
The attack comes just days after a Russian drone struck a passenger train at the railway station in the city of Shostka on Saturday, injuring dozens, regional and national officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video from the Shostka site on Telegram and called the attack “a savage Russian drone strike,” saying dozens were injured, with both passengers and Ukrzaliznytsia railway employees among the victims. He renewed an appeal for decisive international action against what he called “terror.”
“The Russians could not have been unaware that they were striking civilians. And this is terror the world must not ignore,” Zelensky said. “Every day, Russia takes people’s lives. And only strength can make them stop... Lip service is not enough now. Strong action is needed.”
Kuleba said Russia’s goal was to disrupt Ukraine’s heating season and paralyze the work of Ukrzaliznytsia, the state railway company, calling it “a critical artery of the nation.”