Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned as 'terrorism' a Russian drone attack on a crowded passenger train that local officials say killed at least five people and injured several others.
More than 200 people were on the train, officials said, when one of the carriages was hit by a drone and two other drones exploded nearby, in Ukraine's north-eastern Kharkiv region on Tuesday.
Zelensky stated that 18 passengers were in the struck carriage at the time of the attack, questioning the military justification for targeting civilians.
As of now, Russia has not provided any comments regarding the incident, but it has escalated drone and missile attacks on Ukraine's critical infrastructure during one of the coldest winters in recent history.
In another incident, the southern port city of Odesa saw numerous drone strikes, resulting in three fatalities and dozens of injuries, with significant damage reported to local facilities.
Energy departments have revealed that a facility suffered 'enormous damage' overnight due to continued assaults. In a nearby district to the capital, a residential building was hit, causing casualties among a couple and their four-year-old child.
According to energy officials, millions of Ukrainians have been left without vital heating, electricity, and water as a result of the ongoing strikes.
Since Russia's large-scale invasion in February 2022, it is reported that Moscow controls around 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Zelensky emphasized on social media that in any country, a drone strike on a civilian train would be regarded uniformly as terrorism. Images and videos disseminated by Ukraine's emergency services illustrated the devastation, showing at least one carriage ablaze following the attack.
The train was struck near the Yazykove village while en route from Chop to Barvinkove in the Kharkiv region, a line frequented by local residents and Ukrainian soldiers traveling back and forth for leave.
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