KYIV, Ukraine | A Russian drone struck a passenger bus near the front line in southern Ukraine on Wednesday, killing five people and injuring at least seven others, Ukrainian officials said, as attacks on civilian transport and infrastructure continued across the country.
The strike occurred in the Nikopol district of Dnipropetrovsk region, an area regularly targeted during Russia’s war against Ukraine. Regional Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said the drone directly hit the bus and that the five victims died at the scene. The seven injured passengers were receiving medical treatment.
Images released by Ukrainian authorities showed a damaged white minibus with its windows blown out following the attack. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the strike and said the attack was part of continuing Russian assaults on civilian life and infrastructure. The claims came from Ukrainian officials, and details from the immediate scene could not be independently verified.
The bus attack was among several strikes against Ukrainian transportation reported on the same day. Reuters reported that a Russian drone also targeted a passenger train in the Mykolaiv region. All 168 passengers and crew members were evacuated safely. Another drone attack damaged a locomotive in Kovel, near Ukraine’s border with Poland.
Ukraine’s rail network has become particularly important during the war because the country’s airspace has remained closed to civilian aviation since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Railways have carried millions of passengers, including people fleeing combat zones, while also serving as a major channel for humanitarian and commercial transport.
The latest attacks come as Russia has intensified its use of drones against Ukraine. Reuters reported that Russia has increasingly deployed faster, jet-powered versions of the Shahed-type drones, presenting new challenges for Ukrainian air defenses. Kyiv has been developing lower-cost interceptor systems as it seeks to counter the growing volume and speed of Russian aerial attacks.
The Nikopol area has been exposed to repeated attacks because it lies on the Dnipro River opposite the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The plant, Europe’s largest nuclear facility, has remained under Russian control since Russian forces seized it in the opening phase of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
The war has repeatedly brought civilian buses and other public transportation into the path of attacks. In September, a separate Russian drone strike on a bus in Kherson killed two people after one injured passenger later died in hospital, while 12 others were injured, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The latest casualties add to the mounting civilian toll as Russia and Ukraine continue exchanging long-range drone and missile attacks despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the war. The United Nations has warned that civilian deaths in Ukraine have reached their highest levels in years as the conflict continues into its fifth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
For residents in front-line communities such as Nikopol, the attacks underscore the continuing danger faced by civilians using ordinary roads and public transportation while the broader war remains unresolved.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
- EDGARDO HERNAL
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