Ukraine war latest: Kyiv-Warsaw train struck by Russian drone near Polish border as mass attack targets western Ukraine

Key developments on Sept. 12-13:

• Russian drone hits Kyiv-Warsaw train near Polish border
• Russian drones target Volyn, Rivne oblasts in rare mass attack in western Ukraine
• Russian strikes hit 2 major Ukrainian steel plants, killing 2 and injuring 6
• Russian attacks kill 11, injure 96 across Ukraine as Odesa comes under mass overnight strike
• Ukrainian naval drone destroys Russian unmanned boat in Black Sea, Navy says

A Russian drone struck the locomotive of a Kyiv–Warsaw train near Ukraine's border with Poland, Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways) reported. The train was about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Polish border. No passengers were injured.

"This is (Vladimir) Putin's terror, 'knocking' directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.

Katerina Sergatskova, an award-winning journalist and entrepreneur who witnessed the attack, told the Kyiv Independent that Russian drones struck a gas station and a train locomotive near the Yahodyn border checkpoint on the Ukrainian-Polish border.

Following the attack, she and other passengers were left standing outside for several hours.

"We were told to evacuate immediately, but there was no shelter," Sergatskova said. "We were simply told to move away from the train cars toward the lake."

Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least six civilians and injured 43 others over the past day, regional authorities reported on Sept. 13, as Moscow launched a mass drone assault that heavily targeted western regions far from the front line.

Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 453 Shahed and Gerbera drones, including some jet-powered Shaheds, as well as Parodiya decoy drones and S8000 Banderol missiles.

Ukrainian forces intercepted 405 drones and six S8000 Banderol missiles. Hits were recorded at 13 locations, while falling debris was reported at seven other sites.

Russian drones target Volyn, Rivne oblasts in rare mass attack in western Ukraine

Russian forces launched a mass drone attack on western Ukraine on Sept. 12, injuring at least five people in Volyn Oblast and causing power outages in neighboring Rivne Oblast, regional authorities said.

Both regions are located in Ukraine's northwest, far from the front lines, making them less frequent targets for Russian attacks.

The attack on Volyn Oblast lasted more than four hours, with more than 10 Russian unmanned aerial vehicles entering the region’s airspace, according to regional Governor Roman Romaniuk.

Most of the drones targeted the Kovel community, Romaniuk said. Five people were injured and received medical assistance. No deaths were reported.

Debris from one of the drones also struck a passenger train in Lutsk. Passengers had been evacuated before the impact, and no one aboard was injured, according to the governor.

In neighboring Rivne Oblast, Russian attacks caused power outages in parts of Dubno and in the Rivne district, according to regional Governor Oleksandr Koval. An unspecified enterprise in the Sarny district was also destroyed in the attack.

No casualties were reported, and energy crews were working to restore electricity, Koval said.

The attacks illustrate Russia's ability to strike deep into western Ukraine, far from the line of contact. Volyn borders Poland and Belarus, while Rivne lies immediately to its east.

Western Ukrainian regions have repeatedly come under long-range Russian drone and missile attacks targeting energy, transport, and other infrastructure. While these regions are targeted less frequently than Kyiv or Odesa — and far less frequently than front-line cities in Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts — they have increasingly been reached by Russian drones during large-scale nationwide attacks.

On Sept. 3, Russian drones hit several western regions during a nationwide attack that killed five people and injured dozens.

The attacks on Volyn and Rivne were part of a wider Russian drone assault across Ukraine on Sept. 12. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia launched nearly 500 strike drones at the country during the day.

"In essence, the Russians have expanded this war from the front lines, where they cannot achieve success, into the economic sphere, and their tactics are extremely primitive: to destroy every object that can help people endure the conditions of the war," Zelensky said.

Russian strikes hit 2 major Ukrainian steel plants, killing 2 and injuring 6

Russian missile strikes hit two major Ukrainian metallurgical plants overnight on Sept. 12, killing two people and injuring six others, according to statements from Zaporizhstal operator Metinvest and ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih.

In Zaporizhzhia, four ballistic missiles struck the Zaporizhstal steel plant, injuring four employees and causing what Metinvest described as critical damage.

The attack was the third ballistic missile strike on the plant in a month, following earlier attacks on Aug. 11 and Aug. 27. Zaporizhstal had still not resumed production following the previous strikes, according to Metinvest.

"Zaporizhstal produced pig iron and steel for civilian needs. The plant did not manufacture products for military purposes and did not host anything on its territory that could make it a military target," Metinvest Chief Operating Officer Oleksandr Myronenko said.

"Even this did not stop another attack," he added.

The strike damaged equipment in the plant's blast furnace and open-hearth shops, as well as its energy systems, internal networks, and logistics infrastructure, Metinvest said.

One of the four injured workers received treatment at the plant and declined hospitalization, while three others were taken to hospitals with moderate injuries.

"The scale of the destruction is increasing with every strike," Myronenko said. "It is not yet possible to fully assess it, but preliminarily we consider the damage critical."

Separately, a Russian missile strike hit the ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih steel plant, which is in the city of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, overnight — killing two employees of contractor companies and injuring two plant workers, the company said.

Production and auxiliary facilities were damaged, while search and rescue operations continued at the site. The company said specialists were assessing the extent of the damage and possible timelines for recovery.

ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih noted that the facility is a civilian mining and metallurgical enterprise.

The plant has been hit repeatedly during Russia's full-scale war. A December 2022 strike killed one employee and destroyed a rolling mill, while another attack in August 2026 killed two plant employees and one contractor and injured 18 others, damaging key energy and blast-furnace facilities and partially halting production.

The attacks on the two plants were part of a broader wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine overnight on Sept. 12 that killed at least 11 people and injured 96 others. Odesa Oblast was the main target of the overnight missile and drone attack, while deadly strikes were also reported in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and Kharkiv oblasts, among others.

Russian attacks kill 11, injure 96 across Ukraine as Odesa comes under mass overnight strike

At least 11 people were killed and 96 others injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day, as Moscow launched a mass overnight missile and drone attack targeting Odesa Oblast, local authorities said on Sept. 12.

In Odesa Oblast, at least 35 people were injured, including a five-month-old infant and a 17-year-old, local Governor Oleh Kiper said.

"The enemy attacked the city. A multi-story residential building was damaged," Kiper said as the first consequences of the strike emerged.

Russia launched 129 attack drones of various types overnight, including Shahed-type and jet-powered drones, as well as eight Kalibr cruise missiles, six Kh-59/69 guided missiles, and Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, the Air Force said. Ukrainian forces shot down 110 targets, with hits recorded at 20 locations and debris from intercepted targets falling at four additional sites.

In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, two people were killed and at least 22 others injured, including a child, local Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said. In Dnipro, one person was killed and 19 injured as Russian drones, artillery, and aerial bombs damaged an enterprise, apartment buildings, garages, and vehicles.

Overnight, another person was killed and three injured in Kryvyi Rih after Russian forces struck an industrial enterprise. A 54-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition, Hanzha added.

In Donetsk Oblast, four people were killed and five injured in Russian attacks over the past day, Governor Vadym Filashkin said. Two people were killed in Sloviansk, while one person was killed in Kramatorsk and another in Yasnohirka.

In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, two people were killed and 11 injured in Russian attacks, Governor Ivan Fedorov said. Russian forces carried out 1,001 strikes against 45 settlements in the region over the past day, including five missile strikes on the city of Zaporizhzhia, according to Fedorov.

In Kyiv Oblast, one person was killed and three others injured, including a child, as Russian strike drones hit five districts over the past day, local authorities said. Damage was recorded in the Brovary, Obukhiv, Bucha, Boryspil, and Vyshhorod districts. Fifteen sites were damaged, including seven homes, vehicles, warehouses, hangars, and a power line.

In Sumy Oblast, a 68-year-old man was killed in a Russian drone strike on the Myropillia community, while a 64-year-old man was injured in a separate drone attack on the Novoslobidska community, local authorities said. Russian forces carried out more than 50 attacks against 25 settlements in Sumy Oblast over the past day, using artillery, mortars, FPV drones, other unmanned aircraft, and guided aerial bombs.

In Kharkiv Oblast, a 32-year-old man was killed in an attack on Kharkiv, while a 19-year-old man was injured elsewhere in the region, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Russian forces attacked Kharkiv and seven other settlements using guided aerial bombs and multiple types of drones.

In Kherson Oblast, 18 people were injured in Russian attacks targeting residential areas as well as critical and social infrastructure, local authorities said. Fifteen apartment buildings were damaged, along with shops, a gas station, a service station, an ambulance, and vehicles.

Russian Shahed-type drones also struck railway infrastructure in Lutsk, Volyn Oblast, and Fastiv in Kyiv Oblast, Ukrzaliznytsia said. No passengers were injured after monitoring teams detected the threat in time and evacuated them, according to the state railway operator.

Ukrainian naval drone destroys Russian unmanned boat in Black Sea, Navy says

A Ukrainian unmanned surface vessel destroyed a Russian naval drone in the Black Sea in what Ukraine's Navy described as the "first-ever naval battle" between unmanned boats.

The operation was carried out jointly with Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), whose units detected the unmanned Russian vessel, the Navy said on Sept. 12.

The Russian drone was destroyed by a Ukrainian Sargan-3000 unmanned boat, equipped with a 12.7-mm Protector remote weapons station, according to the Navy. The drone-on-drone encounter marked a historic first.

"This is the first-ever battle between unmanned naval boats," the Navy said.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the Navy's report at the time of publication.

The joint operation represents a shift from naval drones attacking conventional ships to drone-on-drone maritime combat. Both Ukraine and Russia are increasingly moving toward unmanned warfare at sea.

Ukraine has dramatically expanded maritime-drone operations in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, hitting dozens of Russian vessels and maritime logistics targets this summer, striking 105 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov campaign alone.

Russia is also developing and deploying more unmanned surface systems. Recent satellite imagery indicated Moscow was building what appeared to be its first dedicated naval-drone port in occupied Crimea.

Ukraine's Sargan-3000 is a naval unmanned system that passed combat testing in April 2026. The multi-purpose platform is "highly maneuverable" and capable of executing strike missions, according to the Navy.