Key Points

Regional governor Oleh Hryhorov confirmed on Saturday that the strike targeted a railway station in the Shostka community, hitting a passenger train bound for Kyiv. He also shared an image of a burning carriage at the site of the attack.

In a message on Telegram, the acting mayor of Sumy, Artem Kobzar, said: "There are injured passengers. Rescuers, medics, and all emergency services are working at the scene."

While authorities did not immediately release figures on casualties, Al Jazeera reported that the attack came just a day after Russia launched its largest overnight air assault in months, striking several regions and targeting energy infrastructure.

Ukraine's Ministry of Energy stated on Telegram that the wave of attacks involved both missiles and drones. It added that "rescuers and energy workers were working to eliminate the consequences of the attacks and stabilise the situation as soon as possible."

Russian forces have intensified their campaign against Ukraine's railway network, with strikes occurring almost daily over the past two months. These repeated attacks have raised fresh concerns over Ukraine's resilience as winter approaches in the fourth year of the war.

The strike on the Sumy passenger train coincided with a broader wave of Russian attacks on Friday, when Moscow's forces also targeted multiple Ukrainian military facilities and gas infrastructure, Russia Today reported, citing the country's Ministry of Defence.

According to Russia Today, the Russian defence ministry said that missiles and long-range drones were launched from various platforms overnight which hit all the designated targets.

Ukraine's state-owned energy company Naftogaz described the assault as the largest on gas extraction sites in the country to date. The company said the damage from Russian strikes was "critical," noting that sites in the Kharkiv and Poltava regions were hit by about 35 missiles.

- ANI