Russia again struck railway infrastructure near Ukraine’s border with Poland overnight, directly hitting another locomotive in Volyn Oblast, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on 15 September. He appealed to Ukraine’s partners for urgent help replacing locomotives damaged or destroyed by Russian strikes.

The latest strike adds to a rapidly growing toll on Ukraine’s railway fleet. More than 500 Ukrainian locomotives have been damaged or completely destroyed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Sybiha said. More than half of those losses have occurred this year alone, as Russian attacks on railways have intensified and increasingly reached western Ukraine.

Ukraine’s railway system remains essential for civilian travel, evacuating people from frontline areas and transporting goods across the country. Recent attacks show that Russia is increasingly putting even these routes at risk far from the front.

Ukraine asks partners for locomotives

Sybiha said Ukraine urgently needs replacement locomotives and called on international partners to help provide equipment compatible with Ukraine’s 1,520 mm rail gauge, as well as financing to accelerate the purchase of new locomotives.

“Ukraine’s railway keeps the country moving,” Sybiha said, pointing to its role in civilian evacuations, essential cargo transport, and the movement of grain and other critical goods.

The appeal reflects a problem that is becoming harder to solve through repairs alone. With more than 250 locomotives reportedly damaged or destroyed in 2026, Ukraine needs to replace rolling stock while continuing to repair infrastructure under attack.

“Supporting Ukraine’s railway resilience will help avert a humanitarian crisis,” Sybiha said.

As Russia expands its attacks against transport routes deeper inside Ukraine, keeping the railway running is becoming not only a matter of logistics, but of maintaining the country’s basic civilian mobility and economic stability.

Russia is taking aim at trains and railway infrastructure

The latest strike came only days after a Russian drone hit the locomotive of a passenger train in Volyn Oblast, just two kilometers from the Polish border.

That 13 September attack was part of two consecutive days of Russian strikes on railway infrastructure across Ukraine. A drone also struck railway facilities in Lutsk, while another hit railway infrastructure in Vinnytsia Oblast.

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The attacks are part of a broader expansion of Russia’s long-range drone campaign against transport and logistics infrastructure deep inside Ukraine. Railway stations, tracks, locomotives, and other infrastructure are increasingly being exposed to Russian drone strikes even in regions far from the battlefield.

The proximity of the latest attacks to Poland is particularly notable. Russia has also struck Ukrainian border crossings with Moldova and Romania in recent weeks, while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on 10 September that Ukrainian crossings with Poland could also come under attack.

Gas stations across Kyiv Oblast will receive access to a military air-awareness system to help them respond more quickly to Russian drone attacks, Kyiv Oblast military administration head Tymur Tkachenko said on 15 September.

The move comes as Russian forces increasingly target fuel infrastructure during their attacks on Ukrainian cities. Two gas stations were hit in Kyiv on 15 September, killing one person and injuring 11, while at least three other Ukrnafta stations in the capital have been struck since 10 September.

The new system will allow designated gas-station employees to see real-time information about the movement of Russian aerial targets rather than relying only on the general air-raid alert. This should give stations more time to suspend operations, protect employees, and move customers away from danger.

Gas stations are becoming a recurring target

The attacks on Kyiv’s gas stations are part of a broader pattern. More than 300 gas stations across Ukraine have been attacked since the current wave began, according to Ukraine’s Energy Ministry, with strikes increasingly reaching deeper into the country.

In Kyiv, Russian forces have repeatedly used drones against fuel stations over the past week. The 15 September attack hit two more stations during a wider wave of around 200 drones launched against Ukraine.

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Russian drones killed a man and injured eight in Kyiv, hitting two gas stations

The targeting of fuel infrastructure adds another dimension to Russia’s campaign against Ukraine’s civilian supply system. Gas stations are not only businesses but critical points in the country’s transportation and fuel network, making repeated attacks capable of affecting both public safety and civilian mobility.

Tkachenko said the new air-awareness access is intended to give businesses “maximum available tools” to detect threats earlier and react in time.

He also urged drivers to follow gas-station employees’ instructions during air raids, as the facilities adapt their operations to the growing threat.

Russian drones killed one man and injured eight people in Kyiv on the morning of 15 September, hitting two gas stations along with warehouses, a restaurant, and an office building, the National Police reported. The strikes came in a night-long wave of 200 drones that also hit Odesa Oblast in southern Ukraine. 

What Russia hit in Kyiv

The first drone came down at a gas station in the Darnytskyi district shortly after 06:00, and more drones hit warehouses in the Obolonskyi district around the same time, the Kyiv Military Administration said. The strike critically wounded a man who was standing near the Darnytskyi station.

The attack resumed after 08:00. A drone struck a non-residential building in the Solomianskyi district, then a second gas station in the Holosiivskyi district, where heavy smoke rose over the site. Mayor Vitalii Klitschko reported the number of injured climbing through the morning, from two to four to eight, with two of them in serious condition. Emergency services put six of the eight in the Solomianskyi district, which took a second hit around 10:00.

The man hurt at the Darnytskyi station died in hospital at about 10:35. Beyond the two stations, police recorded damage to warehouses, a fast-food restaurant, and a business center.

The wave that carried them

Russia launched 200 strike drones from 18:00 on 14 September, the Air Force said: Shahed types including jet-powered ones, Gerberas, and Parodiya decoys, flown from Russia and occupied areas. Air defense downed or suppressed 187 of them by 08:00, with hits recorded at seven locations and debris falling at three more. The attack was still running when that count was published.

Russian drones killed a man and injured eight in Kyiv, hitting two gas stations

Russian forces hit Odesa Oblast at the same time. Russian forces struck residential buildings, logistics sites, and port and transport infrastructure, oblast head Oleh Kiper said, damaging roofs, facades, and windows of private houses along with dozens of garages and cars.

The same night, NATO fighters shot down a drone over Lithuania that had crossed from Belarus, and Ukrainian forces struck the Syzran refinery in Samara Oblast and a warehouse in Taganrog.

Why gas stations

Kyiv's filling stations have been under systematic attack since 10 September, when a drone came down at a station near a shopping mall. On 11 September, jet drones hit two Ukrnafta complexes on opposite banks of the city and returned to strike one of them a second time.

Unlike filling stations in the border oblasts, which Russia hits with cheap short-range drones, the Kyiv stations are being struck with its most expensive ones. Ukrainian stations are mostly struck with the Geran-4 Seeker, the variant fitted with machine-vision targeting, according military observer Oleksandr Kovalenko of Information Resistance.

More than 300 gas stations have been attacked across Ukraine since the current wave began, according to energy ministry data. The strikes have moved gradually from front-line oblasts deeper into the country, and about 80% of damaged stations return to work.