Russia Launches 133 Drones at Ukraine Overnight, Killing Two Railway Workers

On Thursday, Aug. 13, Russia launched 133 drones at Ukraine, with Ukrainian air defenses intercepting 111 of them, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. The attacks targeted 15 locations, causing drone debris to fall at 16 other sites. The strikes resulted in two railway workers losing their lives in the Odesa region and at least six people sustaining injuries across the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

One such incident involved a Russian jet-powered Shahed drone striking a passenger train in the Odesa region, killing the train’s driver and assistant. The train, carrying 340 passengers, was en route to a station for an evacuation following a drone threat alert. The passengers and crew were successfully evacuated and transported to Odesa by buses.

The train's crew was attempting to stop and allow passengers to disembark when the drone made a rapid maneuver, leaving insufficient time for the crew to evacuate themselves. Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, Chairman of the Ukrainian Railways Board, expressed deep sorrow over the loss of life and the deliberate nature of the attack. In addition to the railway workers, an 18-year-old woman in the Odesa region was seriously injured, and a 10-year-old child in Chernihiv region suffered a mild stress reaction due to the Russian drone attacks.

Fires also broke out in various locations, including the Izmail district and Chernihiv region, as a result of the drone strikes. The attacks coincided with intensified Russian assaults on Ukrainian civilian and critical infrastructure, including railways and port facilities.