Panic on crowded Ukraine train - passenger describes moment of Russian drone strike

A Ukrainian soldier has described the moment a passenger train was targeted by Russian drones, killing five people.

When a carriage on the train was hit in northeastern Ukraine, passengers threw themselves on the floor in panic and the military officer told them to get out immediately. Without his instruction, issued moments before the carriage burst into flames, many more passengers could have died.

The officer, whose army call-sign is Omar, is part of Ukraine's 93rd brigade. He was among the passengers travelling on a route from Chop, on the border with Slovakia, to Barvinkove, the last stop before the front line in eastern Ukraine.

The first of three Russian drones landed near the train, forcing it to come to a halt. "Then we heard the rumble of another drone, and then an explosion," Omar tells the BBC. "The blast was so strong that parts of the carriage shattered into splinters."

As the commander of a drone unit, he quickly realised he and the other passengers had to get out as the train could get hit again. In all, 291 people were on the train at the time, officials say.

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Five people were killed in the attack, which President Zelensky said was "terrorism"

"After the second hit, I understood that the drone operator was observing what kind of target it was hitting," Omar says, and a stationary train was an easy target. The carriage that suffered a direct hit quickly became engulfed in flames. "I am in the military and I am prepared for such attacks," says Omar. "But for others it was a shock to be so close to death."

Many passengers evacuated the train in a state of deep distress, and videos from the scene show people screaming and crying as they move away from the smouldering wreck. It was too dangerous for such a large number of people to stay near the burning carriages, so he urged them to start moving towards a nearby motorway.

He then went back to the train with some of the other passengers to check if anyone had been left behind. Inspecting the carriages, he saw a body and continued to look for survivors. Five people lost their lives in the attack.

In the final carriage, Omar found a young woman with a baby. "She was very scared and had no idea what to do but thank God she was alive," he says. She barely had time to put on warm clothes, and screamed she needed to go back to the carriage to retrieve her suitcase and documents, the officer says.

"I came here to bring my son," she told Omar as she was getting off the train. Later, Omar understood she had been travelling to the front line so that her soldier husband could see their child.

The attack on the passenger train in Kharkiv region was condemned by President Volodymyr Zelensky as terrorism.

It hit the heart of the railway system - a symbol of resilience in a country where the airspace has been closed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Millions of Ukrainians rely on the 21,000km-long (13,000-mile) railway network to travel around the country and to cross the border into neighbouring countries, from which they can then catch flights.

Although the railways have been targeted in the past, by and large Ukraine's Ukrzaliznytsia rail company has been able to keep people moving on its vast network - although escalating attacks on infrastructure and severe weather have led to increasingly long delays.

Trains to the frontline city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region were eventually suspended last autumn, once the area became too dangerous due to sustained aerial Russian attacks.

On Wednesday, flags flew at half-mast in railway stations across Ukraine. The daily minute of silence observed across the country was dedicated to the victims of the drone strike on the train.

Hours after the attack had taken place, services were running again on the Barvinkove-Chop line.

I didn't know that.  And neither did the local police, it would appear.  A neighbour had £10,000 fishing gear lifted from his garden shed a few months back.  Our shed was broken into at the same time, but nothing taken.  Zero interest from the police for either of of the break-ins, apart from a crime number, and the arrival a couple of weeks later of a PCSO to drink tea and supply a crime prevention leaflet

Edit: Just spotted TG's earlier message.

Perhaps CfN may need to change the title of this thread, to "....in Bristol and elsewhere - past and present"!

Mark as usual being as up front as you would expect of him, an excellent interview by Richard Bowker.

Barrier and drain repairs are continuing on the M5 southbound between J28 (Cullompton) and J29 (A30, Exeter) as of midday 28/01/2026. Only one lane open.

As I found out this morning driving to IKEA in Exeter. Took nearly 45 minutes to get through the bottleneck. That was after abandoning my journey to IKEA Bristol yesterday.

I do now have the table I needed for my latest project...

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As for local accountability - name me an effective PCC▸ that communicates properly with their electorate throughout their term and not just at election time (more money saved by their abolishment too).

I assume you mean TfW▸ , not TfL» ?

A train line in Devon is set to close for emergency repairs after a giant sinkhole appeared near the railway.

The sinkhole, measuring around eight by three-and-a-half metres, opened up near the line between Dawlish and Teignmouth on Saturday evening following Storm Ingrid.

The railway line will be closed between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot from 7pm on Wednesday to allow repair work to take place, with services due to resume at 7am on Thursday.

The independent Map Shop in Upton-on-Severn is still going, and still wonderful: https://www.themapshop.co.uk/

It would appear that we have a few frustrated cartographers here. [Image from here is not available to guests]

Police are required to attend and investigate ALL domestic burglaries in England & Wales.

Before 1967, there was Worcestershire Constabulary.  That was merged with Shropshire and Herefordshire to form West Mercia Constabulary.  The new set up has seen nothing but reductions in police stations and police presence, year after year.  Have a burglary, and the best you can expect is a crime number to go on an insurance claim form.

Delays to services between Reading and Newbury

Due to a points failure at Reading West disruption is expected until 13:30 28/01.
Train services between Reading and Newbury may be delayed.

One (larger, admittedly - but still smaller than 43 of them!) back office allows further funding of actual officers on the ground.

As for local accountability - name me an effective PCC that communicates properly with their electorate throughout their term and not just at election time (more money saved by their abolishment too).