Russian strikes on Ukraine kill 12, hit passenger train

Russian attacks across Ukraine overnight on Tuesday killed at least 12 people, hitting energy infrastructure and a passenger train, authorities said, just days after direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow aimed at ending nearly four years of war.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, a Russian 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 no and can be no military justification for killing civilians in a train carriage,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.

Prosecutors released images of the smouldering rail car, which regional emergency services later said had been extinguished.

In the southern port city of Odesa, a wave of more than 50 Russian drones killed three people and wounded over 30, regional officials said. Odesa, a key hub for Ukrainian exports, has been repeatedly targeted in recent months.

Regional governor Oleg Kiper said those injured included a woman who was 39 weeks pregnant and two young girls. An AFP journalist at the scene reported seeing the collapsed façade of a residential building as rescue workers searched through debris for survivors.

Zelensky said the attacks undermined ongoing diplomatic efforts and called on Ukraine’s allies to intensify pressure on Moscow.

“Every such Russian strike destroys the space for diplomacy and weakens the efforts of partners working to end this war,” he wrote.

Strikes on energy infrastructure have continued despite recent US-brokered talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in the United Arab Emirates. Zelensky said the next round of negotiations was expected on February 1.

Widespread power outages

Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, DTEK, said one of its facilities in the Odesa region suffered “enormous” damage overnight.

Kiper said dozens of residential buildings, along with a church, a kindergarten and schools, were damaged in the attacks.

In eastern Donetsk region, a married couple aged 45 and 48 were killed in the city of Sloviansk, which Moscow claims to have annexed, according to local prosecutors. Their 20-year-old son survived.

Elsewhere, a 58-year-old man was killed in a drone strike in Zaporizhzhia region, while a 72-year-old woman died in her home due to shelling in southern Kherson region.

Russian drone and missile strikes have cut power, heating and lighting for millions of Ukrainians amid freezing winter temperatures. The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 165 attack drones overnight, with officials confirming that an infrastructure facility in western Lviv region was hit.

State-run gas company Naftogaz said one of its western facilities caught fire, marking the fifth such attack this month.

Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to make incremental gains along the front line. The Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday that its troops had captured two additional villages in the Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions.