Russian drone strikes train in Odesa region, killing two railway workers
Photo: Russia deliberately strikes a Ukrainian Railways train (facebook.com/Ukrzaliznytsia)
An enemy drone deliberately struck the locomotive of a passenger train in Ukraine's Odesa region, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, chairman of the board of Ukrainian Railways, reported.
How the attack happened
A monitoring team detected a drone threat and ordered the train to stop. The train was approaching a station so passengers could be safely evacuated.
However, the sudden maneuver of the jet-powered Shahed drone left the locomotive crew with no time to bring the train to a complete stop and evacuate themselves.
Train driver and assistant killed
“Unfortunately, I have to report the worst news firsthand: according to preliminary information, this strike left no chance for our locomotive crew — the driver and his assistant,” Oleksandr Pertsovskyi wrote.
“We bow our heads to the heroism of our colleagues — they died while stopping the train to safely disembark and save their passengers,” the chairman of Ukrainian Railways added.
All 340 passengers and the train crew were evacuated to safety. There were no casualties among them.
Buses have now been arranged to transport the passengers to Odesa.
Updated.
The Odesa Regional Military Administration showed photos of the train damaged in the strike.
Photos reveal damage to locomotive targeted in Odesa region (https://t.me/RBC_ua_news/)
Relevant services continue to work at the scene. Law enforcement officers are documenting another Russian war crime against the civilian population of the Odesa region.
Russian strike on passenger train kills two in Odesa region, 67 children among evacuees pic.twitter.com/giTUeCI37Z
— RBC-Ukraine (@NewsUkraineRBC) August 13, 2026
— RBC-Ukraine (@NewsUkraineRBC) August 13, 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed video of the train destroyed by Russian forces.
“Three hundred and forty people were on the train. And the person operating the drone could not have failed to know that the target was entirely civilian,” the president said.
Today in the Odesa region, the Russians once again destroyed an ordinary passenger train locomotive with a jet-powered drone. There were 340 people on the train. And whoever was operating that drone certainly could not have been unaware that the target was entirely civilian. As… pic.twitter.com/ON9HjtyuXj
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 13, 2026
Trains have been targeted before
Earlier, on March 14, a Russian drone struck a passenger train traveling between Smorodyne and Vorozhba in Ukraine's Sumy region.
The monitoring service evacuated the passengers in time, so there were no casualties among passengers or railway workers.
Meanwhile, on August 8, Russian drones struck the locomotive of a Sumy–Kyiv train. Passengers had been evacuated beforehand.
One of the train cars was damaged.
Due to continued Russian attacks on trains, Ukrainian Railways has introduced safety stops.
