Human Rights Watch accuses Moscow of targeting civilian trains in Ukraine
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch says Russian drones attacking passenger trains and Ukrainian rail infrastructure have killed and injured civilians, including railway workers. The NGO considers these attacks could amount to war crimes and calls on Moscow to end them, according to its statement published in Kyiv.
The human rights organisation Human Rights Watch accuses Russia of targeting civilian trains in Ukraine. Russian drone attacks on passenger trains and rail infrastructure have killed and injured civilians, including railway workers, according to the NGO. It considers these attacks contrary to international humanitarian law and possibly amounting to war crimes.
On 27 January, a Russian drone struck a train carrying 292 people in the Kharkiv region, killing five civilians and wounding two, according to Ukrainian authorities. On 2 March, a drone strike on a moving train between Nikopol and Kryvyi Rih killed one civilian and wounded at least six people. Human Rights Watch investigated three drone attacks on trains and rail equipment between March and September 2026, based on interviews with railway workers and a passenger, as well as photos and videos, including images published by the Russian Ministry of Defence and Telegram channels linked to the Russian army.
Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, the Ukrainian state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia has evacuated more than 4 million people by train from attacked areas. “For millions of Ukrainian civilians, trains are a lifeline,” said Belkis Wille, associate director for crisis, conflict and weapons at Human Rights Watch. The NGO calls on Russia to stop these attacks and on its partners to support measures to protect civilian transport.
