Railway in ruins — Kuleba shows aftermath of Russian attack

During the night of October 31, Russian forces launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s transport and energy infrastructure, focusing strikes on railway facilities in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Residential buildings and other civilian sites were also affected.

This was reported by Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities and Territories Development.

Russia targets Ukrzaliznytsia railway facilities

In Sumy, a passenger depot belonging to Ukrzaliznytsia came under direct attack. The civilian facility serves daily connections between the city and the wider region. As Kuleba explained, it’s where technical inspections and train preparations take place before departures.

As a result of the massive drone assault, most of the depot’s service buildings were destroyed, and a section of the "Sumy–Kyiv" train was damaged. Thanks to the quick response of railway workers and timely evacuation of staff, no one was injured.

Despite the attack, Ukrzaliznytsia managed to maintain uninterrupted operations: passengers on the morning train to Kyiv departed on schedule, as a replacement train was promptly dispatched from a neighboring region.

Meanwhile, in Sumy, a drone strike hit a nine-story residential building. Fires engulfed five apartments and seven balconies. Twelve people were injured, including children, and are receiving medical assistance.

In the Kharkiv region, railway infrastructure near Lozova was also targeted. Damage to tracks and equipment caused trains to be rerouted, leading to travel delays.

According to the minister, throughout the night the enemy deliberately targeted both critical and civilian infrastructure across several regions.

"The enemy shelled critical and civilian infrastructure all night long — residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions. These are deliberate attacks on the lives of Ukrainians and on the transport arteries of our country. We continue restoration work and I thank everyone working on the ground, eliminating the consequences and helping people," said Oleksii Kuleba.

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