Russian strikes kill 20 across Ukraine

At least 20 people were killed in Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities on Thursday (October 29). The deadliest strike hit the main railway station in Dnipro, where 14 people died.

According to Ukrainian officials, a jet-powered drone struck a crowded platform as a commuter train was preparing to leave. Around 14 more people were wounded, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said. Ukraine’s state railway, Ukrzaliznytsia, said the drone hit the platform at the city’s main station.

Five more people died in daytime attacks on two other cities. In Chernihiv, in the north, a drone strike on a busy street killed two teenage girls and wounded at least 23 people, including four children. In Kremenchuk, in central Ukraine, an attack on homes and private buildings killed three people and injured 32. Later in the evening, a missile strike on Kyiv killed one person, set several warehouses on fire and damaged a building on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River.

Elsewhere in Dnipro, a separate attack set a student residence on fire, and around 350,000 households reportedly lost power. In Zaporizhzhia, three attacks damaged several buses and wounded six people.

Ukrainian leaders condemned the attacks. The prime minister accused Russia of deliberately targeting trains, stations and homes. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the strikes cruel and deliberate. He said Russia was escalating just as many were waiting for signs of de-escalation, and that Ukrainian intelligence points to more ballistic missile attacks being prepared. He urged allies to supply more air defence. Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.

The violence contrasts with a rare pause in the south. A six-day local ceasefire, brokered with US help, has held in part of the Kherson region since Tuesday. It is meant to let aid reach Oleshky, a Russian-held town cut off since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Both sides say demining is complete, which opens the way for food, water and medicine to be delivered and for residents who wish to leave to be evacuated.

The limited truce has raised hopes of renewed diplomacy, and efforts are under way to hold US-mediated trilateral talks next month. But with attacks continuing elsewhere, the outlook for the peace process remains uncertain. Russian strikes continue to damage Ukraine’s rail, energy and other infrastructure, and a shortage of interceptor missiles is making it harder to defend against them.