Russian Geran Drone Strikes Set Trains and Depots Burning Across Western Ukraine
Russian Geran‑series drones have hit railway stations, trains, and depots across western Ukraine, igniting large fires in Lutsk, Dubno, Sarny, Kovel, and near Odesa. The attacks turn civilian rail hubs into front‑line targets and threaten the rail system that keeps people and supplies moving.
Burning trains, depots, and station buildings in western Ukraine show how Russia’s latest drone strikes are pushing the war deep into the country’s rail network.
On 13 September, a wave of Russian Geran‑2 and Geran‑4 drones struck at least five rail‑linked sites, according to visual evidence and local reporting. In Volyn Oblast, one of the targets in a large‑scale Geran‑2 attack was the Lutsk Railway Station, where a train could be seen burning after the strike. The city of Kovel in the same region was also hit twice in succession by Geran‑2 drones.
In Rivne Oblast, a locomotive depot in the city of Sarny caught fire after Geran‑2 drone strikes, and large fires burned at the Dubno railway station following additional hits. Further south, near Odesa city, a locomotive was struck by a Russian Geran‑4 jet‑powered drone.
Casualty figures were not immediately available. Still, the choice of targets—stations, depots, locomotives, and trains in cities such as Lutsk, Dubno, Kovel, Sarny, and near Odesa—shows how sites that serve everyday passenger traffic and cargo are now being treated as part of the battlefield.
The attacks also underline Russia’s growing use of Geran‑2 and Geran‑4 drones as expendable strike systems that can be sent against multiple points on Ukraine’s transport network in a single night. Jet‑powered variants like the Geran‑4 reach targets at higher speed and different approach profiles than propeller‑driven drones, complicating defense and interception.
These rail strikes form part of a wider Russian campaign against infrastructure far from the front lines, which in the same time frame has also included attacks on petrol stations and industrial facilities. The visible result in western Ukraine is a pattern of burning trains, damaged locomotives, and disrupted stations across several regions.
What changes this picture is straightforward to track: whether Russia continues to hit the same junctions and depots, whether new rail hubs come under repeated attack, and how quickly Ukrainian authorities can put damaged rolling stock and station facilities back into service.
Sources
- OSINT