Russian Shahed drone strikes Odesa-Dnipro passenger train locomotive, killing two crew members

A Russian jet-powered Shahed drone struck the locomotive of the Odesa-Dnipro passenger train in the Berezivka district of Ukraine's Odesa region on the morning of 13 August 2026, killing the train driver and his assistant. All 340 passengers were evacuated safely and transported to Odesa aboard 21 buses, according to Ukrzaliznytsia chairman Oleksandr Pertsovskyi.

A monitoring team had detected the incoming drone and ordered the train to halt near a station. However, according to Pertsovskyi, a sudden manoeuvre by the drone left the crew insufficient time to evacuate after bringing the train to a stop.

Emergency services footage from the Odesa region shows the locomotive severely damaged, with firefighters working to extinguish flames. A nearby carriage sustained shattered windows, and passengers were filmed boarding evacuation buses with their luggage.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the drone operator could not have been unaware that the train was carrying civilians, and he renewed calls for stronger air defence capabilities.

Ukrainian air force figures show Russia launched 133 drones at Ukraine overnight, of which 111 were intercepted. Strikes elsewhere in the country wounded six people, according to both sources.

According to Euronews, 67 of the 340 evacuated passengers were children — a detail not mentioned in the Africanews report.

• Russia has not commented on or responded to the strike in any of the supplied sources.
• The specific nature of the drone's 'sudden manoeuvre' that prevented crew evacuation is not described in detail.
• The condition or identities of the two crew members killed are not provided.
• The fate or status of the damaged locomotive and train carriages beyond the immediate aftermath is not reported.
• It is not established how long the evacuation operation took or what happened to passengers after reaching Odesa.
• The six people wounded in strikes elsewhere in the country are not identified or their locations specified.

1. Africanews — original — by AfricaNews
2. Euronews — by Alexis Caraco

Read the original at Africanews

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