A Russian drone hit a passenger train in eastern Ukraine, killing five people and leaving four others missing. The attack took place near a village in the Kharkiv region, according to Ukrainian prosecutors.

On Tuesday, officials said they recovered body parts of five victims from the scene. As a result, President Volodomyr Zelenskyy strongly criticised the strike and described it as “terrorism”.

“In any country, a drone strike on a civilian train would be considered in exactly the same way – purely as terrorism. There is not and cannot be any military purpose in this,” Zelenskyy said.

Train was carrying civilians on regular route

At the time of the attack, the passenger train was carrying about 200 people. It was travelling from Chop, near Ukraine’s western borders with Hungary and Slovakia, to the town of Barvinkove.

Zelenskyy underlined that such attacks cannot be justified under any circumstances. “There is not and cannot be any military justification for killing civilians in a train carriage,” the president added.

More drone attacks hit southern Ukraine

At the same time, Russian forces launched a large drone assault on Odesa. Regional officials said more than 50 drones struck the southern port city, killing three people and injuring over 30 others.

Odesa plays a crucial role in Ukraine’s exports through the Black Sea. Therefore, Russian forces have repeatedly targeted the city since the invasion began nearly four years ago.

Regional governor Oleg Kiper said the injured included a 39-week pregnant woman and two girls.

Attacks cause widespread damage to infrastructure

In addition, Ukraine’s private energy company DTEK reported that Russian forces caused “enormous” damage to one of its facilities in the Odesa region.

According to Kiper, the strikes damaged dozens of residential buildings, as well as a church, a kindergarten, and several schools, worsening the humanitarian situation.

Elsewhere, in Sloviansk in the eastern Donetsk region, a Russian attack killed a married couple aged 45 and 48. However, their 20-year-old son survived. The Donetsk region remains a major strategic target for Moscow.

Russian military leadership signals continued offensive

Meanwhile, Russia’s top military commander, Valery Gerasimov, visited troops in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday. Russia’s defence ministry said he came to “inspect the progress of combat missions conducted by formations and units of the Zapad (West) force group.”

In a video released by the ministry, Gerasimov said Russian troops “continue their offensive along all lines”.

He also claimed that since the start of the year, Russian forces had captured 17 localities and taken control of more than 500 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory. According to him, Russian units are now advancing towards the city of Zaporizhzhia.