“Civilians preparing for a trip, welcoming or bidding farewell to loved ones faced death and devastation,” said Matthias Schmale, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, adding that displaced people and humanitarian workers at a transit centre at the station were left in shock by the nearby explosions.
Media outlets reported that a jet-powered drone hit the station as a train due to travel to Zaporizhzhia stood at a platform. An 11-year-old boy was among the injured, according to regional officials cited in the reports.
Rising risks for rail passengers
Mr. Schmale expressed condolences to the families of those killed on behalf of the UN, noting that train travel is a key means of transportation in Ukraine.
Since the start of the year, he said, travellers and railway workers have faced increased risks on every journey due to Russian military strikes and air alerts affecting the safety and reliability of trains.
According to figures from Ukraine’s railway operator cited by media outlets, attacks on railway facilities have risen from 1,206 in 2025 to 1,700 so far this year.
Recent months have seen repeated attacks across the country on civilian infrastructure critical to daily life, including bridges, hospitals, schools, shopping centres and railway stations, Mr. Schmale said.
Inured to violence
“The images from Dnipro cannot become another story that fades from attention. Behind every casualty is a person, a family and a future changed forever,” he said.
“It cannot be repeated often enough that civilians and civilian infrastructure are protected under international humanitarian law.”
Aid convoys head for Oleshky
Mr. Schmale told UN News in an interview on Thursday that preparations to get aid into Oleshky, a Russian-occupied town in Kherson region, were “accelerating” while a local ceasefire held, and that deliveries could arrive as early as Friday.
The ceasefire, brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump and announced by the White House on 23 October, is due to end on the evening of 1 November.
Ukraine’s Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, has said he is on his way to the town and will accompany residents out.
Mr. Schmale said mined roads were a key reason residents had been trapped. He pointed to images of a stretch known locally as the “road of death”.
“It’s clear any safe passage both in and out has to have mine clearance preceding it,” he said, adding that reports reaching him confirmed demining was under way.
Offer of support ‘not taken up’
The UN has no direct role in the evacuation. “We have offered support, but it’s not been taken up,” Mr. Schmale said, adding that none of its partners were involved either.
Under established procedure, evacuees will get help once they reach Government-controlled areas.
That includes food and other material assistance, and possibly help finding housing. “There’s a high likelihood that we will get involved the minute they are here,” he said.
More than 1,000 likely to remain
Mr. Schmale said estimates varied, but he had heard that 200 to 300 people might leave, “which would leave more than 1,000 there, and they would need support”.
He cited accounts from UN human rights monitors, civil society groups and the Ukrainian authorities.
The town’s remaining health facility was “barely functional” and short of medicine, he said, and keeping warm through winter amid energy disruption would be a growing challenge. Safe water and public infrastructure were also pressing needs.
“Because they’ve been trapped in that place for so long under heavy bombardment, mental health issues should never be overlooked,” he said.
