Russian drone strike on a passenger bus in Ukraine kills 5 people and wounds at least 7 others

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone struck a passenger bus in southern Ukraine early Wednesday, killing five people and wounding at least seven. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack, the latest in a series of Russian strikes on civilian transportation, as an “atrocity.”The strike occurred in the Nikopol district of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, near the war's southern front line. Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the regional military administration, said that all five were killed at the scene while the seven wounded were receiving medical care.Zelenskyy described the vehicle as a minibus and said in an X post that the strike had “no military rationale,” and that the strike was connected to Russia's targeting of logistics and critical infrastructure that has continued “unabated.”Zelenskyy said that a passenger train was also struck in the Mykolaiv region on Wednesday, damaging a railway station and a diesel locomotive.

Nearly 170 passengers on board the train were evacuated before the strike. An electric locomotive in the northwestern city of Kovel was also struck, Zelenskyy said.Ukraine requests locomotives from partnersRussian strikes on Ukraine's rail network have resulted in more than 500 locomotives being damaged or completely destroyed since the beginning of the all-out war on Feb. 24, 2022, with more than half those strikes occurring this year, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X on Tuesday.Sybiha described such attacks as “systematic” and aimed at disrupting logistics across Ukraine.

He said that Ukraine urgently needs replacements for damaged locomotives, and called on the country's partners to assist in finding locomotives compatible with its 1,520 millimeter rail gauge and to assist in financing.In another post on X on Wednesday, Sybiha said that Russian forces were striking passenger trains, locomotives, stations and railway routes “knowing exactly how essential they are for civilians, evacuations and Ukraine’s economy.”“This is not collateral damage. It is a systematic hunt for people and an attempt to (paralyze) civilian life,” he wrote.Zelenskyy says there is no truce on halting energy strikesIn an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Zelenskyy pushed back against an earlier claim by U.S. President Donald Trump that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to mutually cease attacks on each other's energy infrastructure.

Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the regional military administration, said all five were killed at the scene while the seven wounded were receiving medical care. In a post on social media site X, Zelenskyy described the vehicle as a minibus and said the strike had “no military rationale,” and that the incident was connected to Russia’s targeting of logistics and critical infrastructure that has continued “unabated.” Zelenskyy said a passenger train was also struck in the Mykolaiv region on Wednesday, damaging a railway station and a diesel locomotive. Ukraine requests locomotives from partners Russian strikes on Ukraine’s rail network have resulted in over 500 locomotives being damaged or completely destroyed since the beginning of the war in February 2022, with more than half those strikes occurring this year, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X on Tuesday.

Sybiha described such attacks as “systematic” and aimed at disrupting logistics across Ukraine. He said Ukraine urgently needs replacements for damaged locomotives, and called on the country’s partners to assist in finding locomotives compatible with its 1,520 millimeter rail gauge and to assist in financing. In another post on X on Wednesday, Sybiha said Russian forces were striking passenger trains, locomotives, stations and railway routes “knowing exactly how essential they are for civilians, evacuations, and Ukraine’s economy.” “This is not collateral damage.

It is a systematic hunt for people and an attempt to paralyse civilian life,” he wrote. Zelenskyy says there is no truce on halting energy strikes In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Zelenskyy pushed back against an earlier claim by U.S.