Russia strikes Ukraine overnight with 167 drones and missiles; passenger train attacked near Kherson
On September 5, Russia launched an overnight attack on Ukraine using ballistic missiles and 167 drones, about half of them jet-powered. Around midday the same day, Russian forces struck a passenger train heading to Kherson with several Shahed-type drones, injuring two people and damaging two diesel locomotives. The overnight attack was the largest in a series of escalating strikes hitting civilian infrastructure.
Key points
- Russia attacked Ukraine overnight on September 5 with ballistic missiles and 167 drones, about half of which were jet-powered.
- As of 08:30, Ukrainian air defense had shot down or suppressed 128 of the drones, with hits recorded at 23 locations and falling debris at one additional site.
- Around midday on September 5, Russian forces hit a passenger train heading to Kherson with several Shahed-type drones in Chornobaivka, Kherson region.
- Two diesel locomotives were damaged in the train attack.
- Two people were injured: a 55-year-old female railway worker hospitalized in moderate condition with shrapnel wounds to the arm, concussion, and blast and closed head injuries, and an 18-year-old girl who received outpatient treatment for a leg injury.
- Twenty-one passengers and train crew were evacuated from the site of the attack.
- The overnight attack came during a ceasefire regime ordered on the line of contact from September 5 to September 8, and followed a September 2 drone strike near a passenger train on the Odesa–Dnipro route.
Why it matters
The overnight strike combined ballistic missiles with a very large mixed-profile drone salvo, of which roughly half were jet-powered variants — signaling a heavier and more complex attack profile than typical barrages. Striking a passenger train with Shahed-type drones marks a direct attack on civilian rail infrastructure rather than purely military or energy targets. Casualties included a hospitalized railway worker and an outpatient-treated teenager, while 21 passengers and crew were evacuated.
What happened
In the night of September 5, Russia struck Ukraine with an unknown number of Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles and 167 drones of various types, approximately half of them jet-powered. As of 08:30, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that air defense had shot down or suppressed 128 of the drones, with hits from missiles and strike drones recorded at 23 locations and drone debris falling at one additional location. Around midday the same day, Russian forces attacked a passenger train heading to Kherson with several Shahed-type drones in Chornobaivka, Kherson region. The strike damaged two diesel locomotives and injured two people: a 55-year-old female railway worker hospitalized in moderate condition with shrapnel wounds to her arm, concussion, and blast and closed head injuries, and an 18-year-old girl who received outpatient treatment for a leg injury. Twenty-one passengers and train crew were evacuated. The Kherson Oblast Military Administration head, Oleksandr Prokudin, reported the train attack. The overnight barrage occurred during a ceasefire regime ordered on the line of contact from September 5 through September 8.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All reporting on the events of September 5 came from Ukrainian sources, which framed the train strike as the headline event and emphasized the use of 'Shahed' drones against a civilian passenger service. Coverage consistently attributed the train-attack information to Kherson OVA head Oleksandr Prokudin, grounding it in regional authority communication. The overnight missile-and-drone barrage was presented through Air Force data — drone counts, interception figures, and hit locations — and contextualized as occurring on the same day as the train strike.
Where reporting differs
Earlier reporting on the train attack described a single injured 55-year-old railway worker. Later updates raised the total to two injured, adding an 18-year-old who received outpatient treatment for a leg injury.
Background
Earlier in the week, on September 2, Ukrzaliznytsia reported a drone strike near passenger train 53/54 on the Odesa–Dnipro route; passengers were evacuated in advance and no one was injured — a pattern consistent with drone targeting of rail traffic. The overnight September 5 attack occurred against the backdrop of a ceasefire regime ordered on the line of contact from 00:00 on September 5 until 23:59 on September 8.