Ukraine bus hit by drone strike after train attack; Zelensky condemns 'senseless brutality'

Russia has continued striking Ukraine's transportation network in what analysts say is a campaign to disrupt military supply lines, squeeze logistics and sow public anxiety.

Ukrainian police said a drone strike on a passenger bus near Nikopol, a city close to the southern front, killed five people Wednesday (local time), according to Reuters.

Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Oleksandr Hanza said seven others were wounded in the attack.

A passenger train in the southern Mykolaiv region was also hit by a Russian drone strike, acting regional governor Heorhii Reshetnilou said. He said via Telegram that all 168 passengers and crew members had been evacuated. The train was struck two more times after the initial attack, he said, though there were no reported injuries.

Zelensky separately said a locomotive was struck in Kovel, near the Polish border, in addition to the Mykolaiv train attack.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Zelensky said the strikes carried "no military logic whatsoever — merely another act of brutality," and urged the United States and Europe to tighten sanctions against Russia.

"Sanctions against the war must be strong when Russia's barbaric killings happen every day," he said. "This is not the time to ease pressure."

Zelensky said Wednesday that Russia had made two attempts to strike his presidential aircraft.

In an interview with CBS News, Zelensky said his plane had been in Moldova when Russia attacked, and that the same thing happened again as he returned through Chisinau, the Moldovan capital.

Zelensky said the attacks were part of a Russian strategy to intimidate foreign leaders.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre had raised the alarm earlier, on Sept. 9, telling public broadcaster NRK that the plane carrying Zelensky had nearly been struck by a drone as it prepared to take off from Moldova on Wednesday (local time) en route to Norway. "This is the reality he faces," Støre said.

Zelensky had been traveling through Moldova to Oslo to attend the funeral of King Harald V of Norway. His aircraft came under external attack during that transit, according to the claim.

Moldova had already seen a related incident: on Sept. 8, two Russian-launched drones entered Moldovan airspace, briefly halting arrivals and departures at Chisinau's airport.