On September 16, 2026, Russian drones struck a passenger bus and a train in southern Ukraine, killing five people and injuring seven others, Ukrainian officials reported. The bus attack near the frontline city of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region killed four men and one woman, while 168 passengers and crew aboard the targeted train in the Mykolaiv region were safely evacuated with no injuries reported despite multiple subsequent strikes.
Oleksandr Hanzha, governor of Dnipropetrovsk, posted images showing the bus with shattered windows and visible blood on its side following the attack. Heorhii Reshetilov, acting governor of Mykolaiv, confirmed the evacuation
of the train and noted that the train was struck three times in total. Additionally, a locomotive in Kovel near Ukraine’s border with Poland was also hit during the same period.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strikes, calling them “another act of brutality” without military justification, and urged the United States and Europe to increase sanctions against Russia. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the attacks as deliberate targeting of essential civilian transport infrastructure, stating, “Russian forces strike passenger trains, locomotives, stations, and railway routes knowing exactly how essential they are for civilians, evacuations, and Ukraine’s economy. This is
not collateral damage. It is a systematic hunt for people and an attempt to paralyse civilian life.”
The state rail operator Ukrainian Railways reported that Russia has launched 1,700 attacks on railway facilities in Ukraine in 2026, up significantly from 1,206 attacks in 2025 and 842 in 2024. So far this year, 120 passenger wagons, 304 locomotives, and 43 railway stations have been damaged or destroyed. These strikes are part of an escalation aimed at disrupting Ukraine’s transport links.
Since the closure of Ukrainian airspace following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, buses and trains have become critical for civilian mobility
and business activities. Russian forces have intensified their campaign against these transport modes to hinder evacuation efforts and overall logistics, increasing risks to passenger safety and rail service continuity near the Poland-Ukraine border.
Reports also indicate that a diplomatic train close to the affected railway line near Poland escaped damage in the drone strikes, highlighting selective impacts on Ukraine’s rail infrastructure during the ongoing conflict.
