Russian drones kill at least 12 across Ukraine, passenger train hit in Kharkiv region
Russia launched a mass overnight drone attack across Ukraine, killing at least 12 people, Ukrainian authorities said, with one strike hitting a passenger train in the Kharkiv region, Azernews reports.
According to Ukrainian officials, at least five people were killed when a Russian drone struck the train late Tuesday night. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack, calling it “an act of terrorism.”
Zelenskyy shared a short video on X, showing one of the train carriages engulfed in flames following the strike. Regional emergency services later confirmed that the fire had been extinguished.
The broader drone barrage targeted multiple regions across the country, adding to civilian casualties and infrastructure damage as Russia continues its aerial campaign against Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said emergency services were deployed overnight to respond to the attacks, assess damage, and assist victims.
"There is, and can be, no military justification for killing civilians in a train carriage," Zelenskyy wrote on X, "In particular, over 200 people were on the train, and 18 were in the carriage hit by one of the Russian drones".
"The Russians have significantly increased their capacity to kill, their capacity to terrorise," he added, reiterating the need to assert more pressure on Moscow, a message Zelenskyy has repeatedly delivered to its allies.
A barrage of over 50 Russian drones also struck the Black Sea port city of Odesa, officials said on Tuesday, killing three people and wounding more than 30 others, including two children.
The drones targeted the city's power grid, which Moscow has repeatedly attacked in an effort to cut power and heating in the height of winter, as well as five apartment buildings.
Odesa is a strategic hub for Ukrainian exports, and has been frequently targeted by Moscow. According to Ukrainian authorities, the drones used to attack the southern Ukrainian city included models that were recently upgraded by Russia to improve their range and strike power.
Today, Russia struck a passenger train in the Kharkiv region with attack drones. In any country, a drone strike on a civilian train would be regarded in the same way – purely as an act of terrorism. There would be no doubt about the classification, neither in Europe, nor in… pic.twitter.com/J7UqQV70QG
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 27, 2026
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