Russian Attack Destroys Five Coaches on Ukrainian Night Train
A Russian missile attack on a night train in Ukraine destroyed five coaches and left dozens of passengers injured.
Attack on a night train
The missile strike on a Ukrainian night train took place this morning in Ukraine’s Dnipro region.
Night train #52, which connects Odesa with Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, was carrying over 500 passengers when it was struck by a Russian missile.
As a result, five coaches of the Ukrainian night train were destroyed, leaving dozens of passengers injured, although miraculously no one was killed in the attack.
Video footage
Shocking footage of the attack shows a passenger on board casually filming herself and speaking to the camera when the missile strikes the train.
The missile strike caused the woman to suffer a head wound, likely from flying glass or shrapnel.
A picture taken after the missile strike shows a platzkart carriage of the Ukrainian night train completely devastated, with shattered glass in the aisle and blood-soaked linens on the sleeping berths.
Wider attack
The missile attack on the Ukrainian night train was part of a wider Russian ballistic missile barrage targeting the city of Dnipro and the surrounding area.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak said that the Russian missile strike not only hit the Odesa-Zaporizhzhia night train, but also damaged a dormitory, a gymnasium, and an administrative building in the city of Dnipro.
The nearby town of Samarske was also struck by a Russian missile.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 160 people have been reported injured and 11 killed in the attack.
President Zelenskyy said: “The rubble is still being cleared, so unfortunately, the death toll may rise.”
Replacement trains
Remarkably, the Russian missile attack did not cause a significant delay for passengers of the Odesa-Zaporizhzhia night train that was struck, nor did it result in any major delays or cancellations of other trains along the railway line.
According to Ukrainian National News, the national railway company Ukrzaliznytsia promptly arranged a replacement train to carry the affected passengers on the final stretch from Dnipro to Zaporizhzhia.
Ukrzaliznytsia also prepared replacement sleeper coaches to ensure that night train #52’s return journey from Zaporizhzhia to Odesa can proceed as scheduled today.
Ukrzaliznytsia
The indiscriminate Russian missile strike on civilian targets in Ukraine this morning — including a night train — is sadly just one of many such attacks carried out daily across the country.
Given all these difficulties, it is remarkable how Ukrzaliznytsia is still managing to maintain its passenger operations across the country.
I’ve visited Ukraine many times, including twice since the start of the Russian invasion, and each time I’m impressed by Ukrzaliznytsia and how the company manages to run its trains on time, even during these challenging times.
The way passengers from the attacked train were quickly taken to shelters and injured people rushed to hospitals speaks volumes, while those unharmed by the missile strike were transported to another train to continue their journey to Zaporizhzhia.
Perhaps even more impressive is that the return journey from Zaporizhzhia to Odesa is scheduled to run on time, with replacement coaches swiftly arranged to replace the five carriages damaged in the missile attack.
The railway workers of Ukrzaliznytsia are truly doing an amazing job every day and deserve all the praise for it.
Is travelling by train in Ukraine safe?
Obviously, there are some risks involved when travelling to Ukraine right now, but that does not make train travel in the country unsafe.
In a previous article, I addressed the broader question of whether it is safe to travel to Ukraine right now.
Whether train travel in Ukraine is safe primarily depends on where you plan to visit and your own risk assessment.
Naturally, travelling to cities in Western Ukraine is generally a lot safer than to those closer to the current frontline, such as Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia.
Similarly, cities like Kyiv and Odesa are targeted more frequently by Russian missiles than those in western and southern Ukraine, such as Lviv, Chernivtsi, and Uzhhorod.
Personally, I felt much safer sleeping on a night train than in a hotel in Ukraine’s major cities, knowing that Russia has targeted hotels before and that hitting a moving night train is far more difficult than striking a stationary target.
If you feel confident enough to visit Ukraine right now, you should have no qualms about taking a train, as it is certainly no more unsafe than walking through the city streets or staying in a hotel.
When travelling on a night train across Ukraine during the war, it is recommended to sleep with your head facing the aisle rather than the window to minimise the risk of injury from shattered glass or shrapnel in the event of a missile or drone attack.
Conclusion
The Odesa-Zaporizhzhia night train was struck by a Russian missile near Dnipro, destroying five coaches in the attack.
Of the more than 500 passengers on board the Odesa-Zaporizhzhia night train, a few dozen were injured in the missile strike, but fortunately no one was killed.
Remarkably, Ukrainian national railway company Ukrzaliznytsia quickly arranged a replacement train, with the return journey from Zaporizhzhia to Odesa scheduled to depart on time today despite the earlier missile strike.
