Russia launches missile attack on city of Dnipro, targeting schools, trains, hospitals
A devastating Russian missile strike hit the city of Dnipro on June 24, killing at least 15 civilians and injuring at least 174 others. The attack caused widespread damage to schools, medical facilities, residential buildings, and targets of civilian transportation, underscoring the escalating pattern of assaults on civilian infrastructure across Ukraine.
According to Mayor Borys Filatov, the missile strike impacted 14 schools and kindergartens, and shattered the windows of a city hospital and clinic.
“There is significant destruction in the private sector,”
he said in a statement on Facebook, adding that preliminary information points to at least one fatality. Regional governor Serhii Lysak reported that the strike ignited fierce fires, damaging a dormitory, a gymnasium, and administrative buildings.
Also hit were passenger trains—train No. 52—journeying between Odesa and Zaporizhzhia, as it passed through the Dnipropetrovsk region. Emergency crews evacuated all passengers to nearby shelters, and a replacement train has been dispatched from Dnipro to continue the route.
Local emergency services responded quickly under ongoing air raid alerts. Firefighters moved into affected buildings to extinguish flames and secure collapsed structures. Meanwhile, civil defense teams continue clearing debris and providing aid to residents. The full scope of casualties and structural losses remains unknown as investigations progress.
This strike fits a recent pattern: in May alone, Ukraine endured nearly 1,500 long-range weapon launches, resulting in 19 civilian deaths and 205 injured from June 6–11, per the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission.
The recent Kremlin offensive has increasingly targeted civilian areas far from the front lines. In early June, Dnipro itself suffered fatalities when another missile hit, injuring many and damaging schools and high-rise apartments.
These strikes have raised alarm among Ukrainian officials and international observers, who view them as attempts to break civilian morale and degrade vital public services—education, healthcare, and transportation.
“Unfortunately, there are casualties and injured everywhere,” noted Governor Lysak.
Just days before, Russia launched a mass missile and drone strike on Odesa and other major cities, resulting in civilian fatalities and substantial infrastructure damage. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Dnipro were all struck during that wave.
Russia’s war is now primarily on Ukraine’s civilian population, genocide.
