Chaos as Russian Drones Strike Ukrainian Passenger Train, Five Lives Lost

Sat Jan 31 2026 15:43:23 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A harrowing account from a Ukrainian military officer aboard a passenger train reveals the chaos that ensued during a recent Russian drone strike, resulting in five fatalities.

In a shocking incident, a Ukrainian passenger train was targeted by Russian drones while traveling from Chop to Barvinkove. Eyewitness accounts describe scenes of panic as passengers scrambled for safety after the train was struck. Military officer Omar, who was on board, played a crucial role in directing passengers to evacuate, potentially saving many lives. Following the attack, which was condemned by President Zelensky as an act of terrorism, services resumed on the line later that day, albeit under heightened security concerns.

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 a military officer shouted for them to get out immediately.

Without this 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 aboard a train traveling from Chop, on the Slovak border, to Barvinkove, just 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 told the BBC. The blast was so strong that parts of the carriage shattered into splinters.

As the commander of a drone unit, he quickly realized the urgency for all passengers to evacuate, knowing the train could be targeted again. Officials have confirmed that 291 people were on board during the attack.

After the first drone strike, he instructed passengers to leave. Many were in shock and deeply distressed, as seen in videos of the aftermath showing people screaming and crying while moving away from the burning wreckage.

Despite the dangerous situation, Omar returned to the train with some passengers to check for survivors. Tragically, he found five lives lost, including those left in the burning carriage.

Among the survivors, he encountered a young woman with a baby, who had initially been terrified and was determined to retrieve her belongings.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned the attack, labeling it terrorism, hitting what he described as the heart of a resilient railway system crucial for many Ukrainians amid the ongoing conflict.

Following the tragedy, flags across Ukraine are at half-mast in honor of the victims, and a moment of silence was observed nationwide. Service on the Barvinkove-Chop line resumed hours after the incident, with heightened security measures in place to protect passengers from further attacks.