Last night’s Russian drone strike, including 35 one-way attack and decoy drones, killed a railway worker and injured several more civilians in three Ukrainian regions as the Shahed drones hit homes and infrastructure across three oblasts. 

Ukrainian air defenses intercept 11 drones, but 18 strike targets

Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Moscow’s forces launched 35 unmanned aerial vehicles, including 29 Shaheds and multiple decoy drones, from the directions of Russia’s Millerovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk. The attack began around 21:30 on 17 July and continued into the early hours of 18 July.

Air defense units reportedly destroyed 11 drones over Ukraine’s northern and eastern regions. Six decoy drones disappeared from radars or were suppressed by electronic warfare.

Railway worker killed in Dnipropetrovsk oblast

In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a Russian drone strike kills a railway worker and injures two others. The head of the oblast administration, Serhii Lysak, confirmed that drones hit communities in Pavlohrad and Synelnykove districts. A 52-year-old man was killed in the Verbkivska and Bohdanivska areas, and two men aged 38 and 40 were wounded. A fire broke out at a local transport facility, which was later extinguished.

Ukrzaliznytsia added that a drone also struck an electric locomotive. The train operator was killed, and his assistant was wounded but remains in stable condition.

Three Shahed drones were downed over the oblast by Ukrainian air defenses.

According to Lysak, a small FPV kamikaze drone also targeted Nikopol. The aftermath is still under investigation.

Elderly man injured in Zaporizhzhia oblast

In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Russian drones struck Andriivka village in the Zaporizhzhia district. According to oblast head Ivan Fedorov, nine Shahed drones hit the area, injuring a 79-year-old man. Fires erupted at non-residential buildings and several structures were destroyed.

Four civilians wounded in Kharkiv oblast

In Kharkiv Oblast, Russian drones targeted the city of Chuhuiv. Mayor Halyna Minaieva reported that four civilians were wounded. The strike damaged residential buildings, a family doctor’s office, and an educational institution.

A Ukrainian drone strike led by military intelligence has destroyed a Russian train carrying fuel in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The attack, confirmed on 22 June by Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), marks the second such strike in less than a month on a key railway corridor supplying Russian forces in southern Ukraine.

Fuel train hit near Molochansk

On 21 June, Petro Andriushchenko’s Telegram channel reported a Ukrainian attack on a Russian fuel train in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and later published a photo showing the aftermath of the attack near the railway stretch between Levadne and Molochansk in Tokmak district, about 35 km behind the lines.

“Right now (16:43, – Ed.), Defense Forces have struck and are finishing off a Russian train with tankers,” he wrote, noting that several fuel tankers caught fire.

Andriushchenko later reported that by 21:16, 11 tankers were ablaze and smoke was visible from up to 20 km away. According to him, “the rail track is destroyed — will take weeks to fix — meaning no fuel to the front lines for two weeks.”

Andriushchenko claimed on 22 June that the fire covered 18–20 tankers and was not extinguished by Russian forces as of 13:11. He wrote that Russia attempted to salvage some of the cargo by sending a locomotive to retrieve 15–20 tankers, pulling them toward Melitopol, but others were left to burn.

He added that Ukrainian drone operators struck the convoy “like a bowling alley,” destroying car after car during the night. 

HUR confirms success of drone-led operation

On 22 June, HUR officially confirmed the attack. The agency reported that its Kabul 9 unit carried out the strike in cooperation with Southern Ukraine Defense Forces, Alfa unit, and the Next group of the State Special Communications Service.

“The black smoke soared to the skies,” HUR wrote, noting that the burning tankers contained diesel and other fuel materials meant for Russian troops.

HUR’s video shows at least three points of conflagration and a large patch of scorched vegetation beside the train, but the distance and low clarity make it difficult to determine which and how many tank cars were damaged.

Previous attacks on same rail line

This is not the first Ukrainian strike on Russian military trains in the area. On 24 May, HUR’s strike drone pilots hit another Russian fuel train on the railway line between Verkhniy Tokmak, Molochansk, and Fedorivka.

Ukrainian drones hit Russian military train with fuel in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast (video)