Russian drone kills 14 at Ukraine train station, but local truce attributed to Melania Trump brings some hope

Kherson, Ukraine — A Russian jet drone struck two passenger trains stopped at a station in Dnipro in central Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least 14 people and injuring 14 others, including a 40-year-old man whose legs were amputated, officials said.

Meanwhile, a Russian cruise missile killed two 15-year-old girls in the northern city of Chernihiv, and three other civilians died when a Russian drone struck a building in the central city of Kremenchuk, Ukrainian authorities said.

A total of 56 people were injured in the strikes, including 10 children, as Russia continues its deadly attacks on civilians, although localized attacks have occurred. ceasefire attributed by both parties to American first lady Melania Trump held in the disaster-stricken town of Oleshky.

Humanitarian aid was about to arrive in Oleshky, a Ukrainian official said Thursday, as the limited ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine extended into a third day and military units cleared landmines.

Moscow and kyiv have been observing a truce in and around the devastated city in southern Ukraine since Tuesday, but neighboring countries otherwise remain locked in conflict. war that began with the full-scale invasion of Russia over 4 and a half years ago. Previous efforts to secure a ceasefire either never succeeded or the truces quickly collapsed.

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 1,214 Ukrainian drones overnight, in one of the largest drone attacks launched by kyiv. About half of the drones were heading toward the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

The planned six-day ceasefire around Russian-occupied Olechky brought a rare and welcome calm to civilians in the neighboring Ukrainian-held town of Kherson, also ravaged by war.

Both sides thanked Melania Trump for her role, according to the White House, in brokering a temporary ceasefire so that food and medical supplies could be delivered to some 2,000 desperate people stuck in Oleshky. Pope Leo XIV also insisted on a truce.

“The parties fully respect the agreements and no violations of the ceasefire have been reported,” Ukrainian mediator Dmytro Lubinets said on Thursday, adding that aid deliveries were expected to begin the next day.

His Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, confirmed that the truce was holding and that Russian engineers were working to clear the roads in Olechky.

“Both parties are fully honoring their commitments and no violations have been recorded,” she said. “This allows military personnel to continue clearing roads and prepare safe passage for the humanitarian convoy.”

The local population will also be able to evacuate to Russia or Ukraine, depending on their wishes, according to officials. The mechanisms by which this might work remained unclear.

Lantratova said she and her team were on their way to Oleshky for the aid delivery, adding that the operation lasted five months.

Russian and Ukrainian representatives met in the Belarusian town of Homel on Thursday to fly together to the Kherson region, Belarusian state media reported.

An Oleshky volunteer, Ksenia Arkhipova, told The Associated Press that about 1,000 residents had told her they wanted to leave the town.

She said it was important for the Ukrainian delegation to be present in Oleshky because many residents fear Russian authorities will identify individuals with pro-Ukrainian views or ties to the Ukrainian military.

In the neighboring city of Kherson, increasing numbers of people took to the streets for the duration of the truce.

Nataliia Myronenko, 42, had a steady stream of customers at her coffee kiosk since Thursday morning.

“Now, during the calm, we have people at lunchtime and in the evening, which we didn’t have under the attacks,” she said. “For a while, people were running down this street because they were afraid to stop.”

The break brought a sense of relief, she said. “It’s a breath of freedom, when you don’t look at the sky. You keep looking at your feet because of the mines, but you’re not afraid of dying. It’s so great,” she said, adding: “It’s such a privilege and joy, but we understand that this is going to end soon.”

Moscow and kyiv want to curry favor with Washington before possible three-way negotiations next month.

U.S. military support is vital for Ukraine, but President Trump lifted sanctions on Russia and publicly reprimanded Zelensky, indicating he was disengaging from kyiv.

Oil tankers carrying Russian diesels sail to the United Statesand Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to attend a G20 ministerial meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, starting Friday, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

European leaders, for their part, are trying to diplomatically isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Moscow and what they call a sabotage campaign across the continent.

Ukraine reported a sudden incident earlier this month and unexpected limits on Starshieldthe military version of the Starlink satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and which forms the backbone of drone operations and communications in Ukraine.

Putin said Russia was in contact with the American tech titan to coordinate their activities in orbit as it builds its own equivalent of Starlink.

“Elon Musk is a genius. Truly, a real genius,” Putin said Wednesday evening. “We and our American partners value this relationship and, despite all the political problems, we continue to work closely together.”