KYIV — At least 13 people were killed after a Russian drone struck a busy platform at a railway station in the central-eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, authorities said on Thursday.State rail company Ukrzaliznytsia said a jet-powered drone hit the platform where a train was preparing to leave for the nearby city of Zaporizhzhia.”Thirteen people were killed in a Russian attack on Dnipro. At least five more were wounded,” Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha said on Telegram.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the strike as “horrific”, saying Russian forces had attacked a platform “where a regular commuter train and a regular passenger train were standing”.Ukraine’s national police put the number of injured at at least 10.Oleksandr Pertsovsky, head of Ukrainian Railways, said a heightened threat alert had been issued before the attack.”But unfortunately there were still a large number of people on the platform,” he wrote on Facebook.Russia also attacked Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, damaging an educational institution, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.Ukrainian authorities also reported overnight Russian strikes in multiple areas, including an attack in the Rivne region that killed one man.Russian news agencies, citing the Ministry of Defence, reported that its forces struck a cargo vessel used by the Ukrainian military in the Black Sea.Meanwhile, Russia downed most of the 613 drones launched towards Moscow overnight, in a major attack on the Russian capital, state news agency TASS reported.Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that air defence forces destroyed 231 of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on approach to the city, with the remainder neutralised on distant approaches between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.The Kremlin condemned the attacks on Moscow as the city hosts more than 22 African leaders at a summit, TASS reported.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “very strange” for Kyiv to target Moscow during this time.The Russian Defence Ministry said its air defence intercepted and destroyed 1,214 Ukrainian drones overnight across regions.Debris from downed drones also caused minor damage after falling onto the territory of an unnamed industrial facility in Sterlitamak, the second-largest city in Russia’s Bashkortostan region, Mayor Emil Shaimardanov said on Telegram.He said the plant was operating as usual and that local air defence forces had shot down all eight Ukrainian drones involved in the attack.The attack marks the latest in a series of major drone assaults targeting the Moscow region, following a record attack in September during which air defence forces reported shooting down more than 1,600 drones.Both sides have reported an increase in attacks in recent months, while Moscow and Kyiv also prepare to resume peace talks next month with US mediation.Meanwhile, a Ukrainian delegation has headed to the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky, where a localised ceasefire is under way to provide humanitarian aid to the remaining residents.The Kremlin also said it hopes aid will reach Oleshky on Thursday or Friday and that those wanting to leave the town were able to do so, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.So far, neither Ukraine nor Russia has reported any violations of the six-day ceasefire, which took effect early Tuesday.
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