Ukraine Stops Three of Four Jet Drones. The Fourth Killed 14 on a Dnipro Platform

Ukraine now downs about three in four of Russia's jet-powered Gerans. One of four aimed at Dnipro on Thursday hit a crowded station platform. The cheap interceptors meant to shrink that remainder are priced, but not due before this winter is over.

Dnipro, Oct. 29

Ukraine's air defence did on Thursday what it now does most days against Russia's jet-powered drones: it stopped three of four. The fourth hit a railway platform in Dnipro. Russia directed four jet-powered attack drones at Dnipropetrovsk Oblast at about 11:00 on Oct. 29, and "unfortunately, one drone struck the railway station platform in Dnipro," Ukraine's Air Force said.

Regional head Oleksandr Hanzha put the toll at 14 killed and 14 injured. Six were in serious condition, including an 11-year-old boy. Ukrzaliznytsia, the state railway, said the strike hit the platform where train No. 866, Dnipro-Zaporizhzhia, was standing. Its chief executive, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, said: "An air-raid warning had been issued, but unfortunately there was a significant number of people on the platform."

Three in four is now roughly the national rate. The Institute for the Study of War, working from Air Force data, puts Ukraine's typical interception rate against jet-powered Shaheds at 77%, and at 74% between Oct. 14 and 24, when Starshield speeds were capped. Dnipro shows what the remaining quarter does.

The overnight attack

Before the station strike, Russia launched 112 drones overnight, including Shaheds, Gerberas and Parodiya decoys, the Air Force said. Forty were jet-powered. Defenders shot down or neutralised 97, among them 30 of the jets. Drones struck seven locations.

Elsewhere on Thursday, a Russian cruise missile killed two 15-year-old girls in Chernihiv, and a drone hit an apartment block in Kremenchuk. Russia's defence ministry denies targeting civilians and says its railway attacks hit infrastructure used to move troops and equipment.

The railway already plans around the threat. Ukrzaliznytsia told AFP that more than 5,800 trains had to be evacuated in September alone because of strike warnings, most of them in the Odesa, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions. Thursday's strike landed on passengers who were still on a platform after an alert. Below: why a quarter of the jets still get through, what the new interceptors cost and when they arrive, and what this winter's European money can buy.