Russian forces killed at least 12 people across Ukraine and hit energy infrastructure and a passenger train in overnight attacks on Tuesday, authorities said, just days after direct talks were held to explore ways to end nearly four years of war.
In the northeastern Kharkiv region, a drone struck a train carriage carrying nearly 200 passengers, killing at least five people, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in a post on X.
“There is not and cannot be any military justification for killing civilians in a train carriage,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.
Prosecutors shared images of the smouldering train carriage on social media, which regional emergency services later said had been extinguished.
In the southern port city of Odesa, a barrage of more than 50 Russian drones killed three people and wounded over 30 others, regional officials said. Odesa, a key hub for Ukrainian exports on the Black Sea, has been repeatedly targeted in recent months.
Regional governor Oleg Kiper said the wounded included a woman who was 39 weeks pregnant and two young girls. An AFP journalist at the scene reported a collapsed residential building facade and rescue workers searching through rubble for survivors.
Zelensky said the continued bombardment was undermining diplomatic efforts and urged Ukraine’s allies to increase pressure on Moscow.
“Every such Russian strike erodes the diplomacy that is still ongoing and undermines the efforts of partners who are helping to end this war,” he wrote.
Attacks on energy infrastructure have also continued, leaving millions without electricity, heating and lighting during freezing winter temperatures. Ukrainian private energy firm DTEK said Russian strikes caused “enormous” damage to one of its facilities in the Odesa region overnight.
Kiper said dozens of residential buildings, as well as a church, kindergarten and schools, were damaged in the attacks.
In eastern Donetsk region, local prosecutors said a married couple aged 45 and 48 were killed in Sloviansk, while their 20-year-old son survived. In Zaporizhzhia, a 58-year-old man died in a drone attack, and in southern Kherson region, a 72-year-old woman was killed in her home by shelling.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 165 attack drones overnight, with an infrastructure facility also hit in the western Lviv region. State gas company Naftogaz said one of its sites caught fire, marking the fifth such attack this month.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to make gradual advances along the front. Moscow’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that its troops had captured two more villages in the Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions.(Agencies)
