At least 12 people were killed across Ukraine overnight after Russian forces launched a wave of drone and missile attacks that struck passenger trains, residential areas, and critical energy infrastructure, Ukrainian authorities said, underscoring the fragility of ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the war.
In the northeastern Kharkiv region, a Russian drone hit a passenger train carrying nearly 200 people, killing at least five, according to Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. Prosecutors later released images showing a badly burnt carriage, which emergency services said was extinguished after the strike.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, saying there was no possible military justification for targeting civilians travelling by train. Writing on social media, he said the strike demonstrated Russia’s continued disregard for international humanitarian norms.
Further south, a barrage of more than 50 drones struck the port city of Odesa, killing three people and injuring more than 30, regional officials said. Odesa, a vital hub for Ukraine’s Black Sea exports, has faced repeated targeting since the start of the invasion.
Regional governor Oleg Kiper reported that the wounded included a 39-week pregnant woman and two young girls. An AFP journalist at the scene reported extensive damage, including the partial collapse of a residential building, as rescue teams searched through debris for survivors.
Local prosecutors reported the deaths of a married couple, aged 45 and 48, in Sloviansk in the eastern Donetsk region. Their 20-year-old son survived the strike. In Zaporizhzhia, a 58-year-old man died following a drone attack, while a 72-year-old woman was killed by shelling in the southern Kherson region.
Russia launched 165 attack drones overnight, according to Ukraine's air force, with strikes reported across multiple regions. An infrastructure facility in the western Lviv region was hit, while state gas company Naftogaz said one of its facilities caught fire, marking the fifth such attack on its assets this month.
Private energy firm DTEK described the damage to one of its sites in the Odesa region as “enormous”, warning of further disruptions to electricity supplies. Russian attacks on power, heating and lighting systems have left millions of Ukrainians facing outages in freezing winter conditions.
Zelensky said the latest bombardment risked undermining peace efforts, coming just days after Russian and Ukrainian negotiators held direct, US-brokered talks in the United Arab Emirates. Another round of negotiations is expected on February 1, according to the Ukrainian president.
“Every such strike erodes the diplomacy that is still ongoing and undermines the efforts of partners who are trying to end this war,” Zelensky said, urging Ukraine’s allies to intensify pressure on Moscow.
Meanwhile, Russia said its forces were continuing to advance along the front line. The Russian defence ministry claimed on Tuesday that troops had captured two additional villages in the Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions, areas that have seen sustained fighting in recent months.
As diplomatic contacts continue, the latest attacks highlight the widening gap between negotiations and the realities on the ground, with civilians and energy infrastructure bearing the brunt of the conflict nearly four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion began.
