Russian Shahed Hits Kharkiv–Izyum Train, Injuring 7 and Sparking Fire at Station

Russian forces attacked the Kharkiv-Izyum passenger train in the Kharkiv region with a Shahed drone on Wednesday, Sept. 9, sparking a fire and injuring seven people.The Izyum Military Administration reported that the strike occurred at around 10 a.m.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.A Russian Shahed drone struck the rear of the Kharkiv-Izyum train at a railway station near the village of Iskra, causing a fire.Initial reports from the city authorities read that six people were injured.Later, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, the chairman of the board of Ukraine’s state railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, clarified that the Kharkiv-Izyum suburban train had stopped to evacuate passengers, which helped save the staff and passengers from the worst of the attack.“However, the debris was scattered over a large area. Seven people – railway workers and passengers – were injured, mostly, fortunately, with minor injuries from the debris,” he added. Russian forces have repeatedly targeted civilian railway infrastructure and passenger trains in the Kharkiv region.In late August, a Russian drone struck a railway station in Lozova district where a train had stopped to evacuate people. The attack killed two women and injured five others.Recent attacks on passenger trainsOn Sept. 8, Russian forces targeted a Kyiv–Sumy passenger train with two Shahed drones near Sumy. An early warning, however, allowed everyone aboard to evacuate before the strikes.Ukrzaliznytsia said its monitoring team detected the threat and stopped the train at a station before the attack. All passengers, as well as the train and locomotive crews, were evacuated safely. Other Topics of Interest Abramovich Loses Third Bid to Escape EU Sanctions The EU General Court rejected the former Chelsea owner’s latest attempt to overturn sanctions imposed over Russia’s war against Ukraine. The railway operator provided buses to take the passengers to their destinations after the attack.“Targeted strikes on passenger trains are a terrible war crime,” Ukrzaliznytsia CEO Oleksandr Pertsovskyi said, urging Ukraine’s partners to increase pressure on Russia.The incident followed another attack on Sept. 2, when a Russian drone struck near passenger train No. 53/54 traveling between Odesa and Dnipro at a station on the Prydniprovska Railway.In that case, Ukrzaliznytsia’s monitoring service also detected the threat in advance, allowing passengers and crew members to evacuate before the explosion.Russia has attacked Ukraine’s railway network more than 1,500 times in 2026, damaging 249 passenger cars and 492 locomotives, The Guardian reported. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.