A Ukrainian soldier has described the moment a passenger train was targeted by Russian drones, killing five people.
As a carriage was struck in northeastern Ukraine, passengers fell to the floor in panic while the military officer instructed them to evacuate immediately. Without his timely counsel, many more lives could have been lost when the carriage erupted into flames.
Identified only by his call sign, Omar, he is a member of Ukraine's 93rd brigade and was on a route from Chop near the Slovak border to Barvinkove, the last stop before the eastern front. The first drone strike forced the train to halt just prior to the attack that directly hit a passenger carriage.
Then we heard the rumble of another drone, and then an explosion, Omar recounted to the BBC. The explosion was so powerful it shattered parts of the carriage into splinters. Realizing the danger, he urged all 291 passengers to leave the train quickly, fearing more strikes were imminent.
The attack, which was condemned by President Volodymyr Zelensky as terrorism, targeted a crucial element of Ukraine's infrastructure, emblematic of the country's resilience amid ongoing conflict.
After the second hit, I understood that the drone operator was observing what kind of target it was hitting; a stationary train was an easy target, Omar explained. Many passengers fled in distress, captured on video amidst screams as they evacuated toward safety.
In Omar's quick efforts to check for survivors, he discovered a young woman clutching her baby amidst the wreckage. She was overwhelmed and desperate to retrieve her belongings, revealing her motive for traveling was to unite with her soldier husband at the front.
Following the attack, which led to increased railway safety concerns, services resumed on the affected line, while the nation mourned those lost with a minute of silence observed in railway stations across Ukraine.
