Russia makes more precise drones and is using them to attack Ukraine’s vital rail network

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — When Russian drones smashed into the Shostka train station in northeastern Ukraine earlier this month, they killed a 71-year-old man, injured at least eight people and left train cars buckled by fire and riddled with shrapnel holes.

It was one of the latest examples of what Ukrainian officials say has been a surge since mid-summer in attacks on railways, a critical artery for commercial and military logistics.

They are part of Russia's broader targeting of infrastructure that now is being carried out with greater precision thanks to advances in long-range drone technology that include onboard video feed.

In the attack in Shostka, less than 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the Russian border, two explosives-laden drones struck two commuter trains in quick succession.

Russia has stepped up railway attacks over the past three months, seeking to sow unrest in Ukrainian regions it borders by depriving people there of rail connections, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, the CEO of the Ukrainian state railway, told The Associated Press.

“What happens is not just about the quantity, it’s also the approach of enemy forces. Now, as they have very precise Shahed drones, they are targeting individual locomotives,” Pertsovskyi said.

Ukrainian railway managers have prided themselves on speedy repairs and their ability — so far — to keep the trains running despite repeated strikes, but officials and analysts warn that advances in Russian drone capabilities and the growing tempo of attacks pose a serious threat.

Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in early 2022, railway officials have publicly reported about roughly one attack on railways per week. Since mid-summer of this year, that rate has more than doubled to about two or three per week, according to an AP review of public reports.

However, what is publicly reported is only a small fraction of the overall number of attacks on all rail-related infrastructure, which could include damage to power lines, electrical substation, rail tracks, train stations and other structures.

Oleksii Kuleba, a deputy prime minister in charge of restoration and development, said there have been 300 attacks on railway infrastructure since August alone — which would represent about 10 attacks per week.

Ukraine’s rail network carries more than 63% of the country’s freight and 37% of passenger traffic, according to the State Statistics Service. It is also essential for moving grain and metal industry exports to seaports and borders, and for transporting military aid from allied nations.

Russian forces have added a key upgrade to their drone fleet since the summer, according to Serhii Beskrestnov, a Ukrainian military and drone expert whose team studies intercepted Russian drones.

Cameras and radio modems, which send and receive data wirelessly, have been fitted to various types of long-range strike drones. That allows operators to adjust a drone’s flight path in real time, sharply increasing precision compared to preprogrammed models.

Beskrestnov said locomotives are particularly vulnerable to the new technology, because they are relatively slow and follow predictable routes.

“If the Russians keep hitting diesel and electric locomotives, the time will come very soon when the track will still be intact — but we’ll have nothing left to run on it,” he said.

The modified drones can fly up to 200 kilometers (124 miles) into Ukrainian territory while streaming video back to operators in Russian-held areas, Beskrestnov said.

An official at Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters, said Ukrainian forces also have recovered and examined a Geran-type drone fitted with a civilian camera and radio modem. The Geran is a Russian variant of the Iranian-designed Shahed.

The official said the findings suggest that Moscow is actively testing and refining new technical solutions.

He said the cameras also allow Russian operators to identify Ukrainian air defense systems and assess damage on the ground.

Throughout the war, Russian drones and missiles have repeatedly targeted railway infrastructure, mostly in regions near the front line. In March, the rail operator also endured a major cyberattack that disrupted online ticketing and other services for a week.

Ukraine’s repair crews are racing to match the pace of Russian strikes. Piles of debris from missile attacks are cleared within hours, and utility teams typically restore power and water within a day after most strikes on Kyiv and other cities.

Rail crews operate on a similar timeline. In Kyiv, railway repair team leader Maksym Shevchuk, 30, recalled the day a missile destroyed 12 meters (39 feet) of track. “Traffic on the track was fully restored in half a day,” he said.

Freight volumes carried by rail from January through August 2025 dropped 11.7% year over year, while passenger traffic declined by 4.2%, according to the State Statistics Service, which has not stated a reason for the decline.

Nataliia Kolesnichenko, senior economist at the Kyiv-based Center for Economic Strategy, described the impact so far as “negative but marginal,” crediting rapid repair work and train rerouting that keeps delays to a minimum.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration and Development on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, a railway worker stands in front of a train locomotive destroyed by a Russian strike in Odesa, Ukraine. (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration and Development via AP)

Shevcuk Maksym, 30, a railway repair team leader, looks at railway track repair work in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A passenger train is seen damaged following Russia's drone attack on a railway station in Shostka, Sumy region, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Kordon Media)

Oleh Pryshchepa, 54, second right, a train driver, rides at the train driver's cabin in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Vasilisa Stepanenko)

A passenger train is seen damaged following Russia's drone attack on a railway station in Shostka, Sumy region, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Kordon Media)

Launch preparations have begun for the Artemis II mission, NASA’s planned lunar fly-around by four astronauts that will be the first moon trip in 53 years.

Tensions were high as hydrogen fuel started flowing into the rocket hours ahead of the planned launch. Dangerous hydrogen leaks erupted during a countdown test earlier this year, forcing a lengthy flight delay.

The launch team needs to load more than 700,000 gallons of fuel (2.6 million liters) into the 32-story Space Launch System rocket on the pad before the Artemis II crew can board.

The 32-story Space Launch System rocket is poised to blast off Wednesday evening with a two-hour launch window beginning at 6:24 p.m. EDT at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Artemis astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will be on board. They’ll hurtle several thousand miles beyond the moon, hang a U-turn and then come straight back. No circling around the moon, no stopping for a moonwalk — just a quick out-and-back lasting less than 10 days. NASA promises more boot prints in the gray lunar dust, but not before a couple practice missions.

Unlike the Apollo missions that sent astronauts to the moonfrom 1968 through 1972, Artemis’ debut crew includes a woman, a person of color and a Canadian citizen.

Artemis II is the opening shot of NASA’s grand plans for a permanent moon base. The space program is aiming for a moon landing near the lunar south pole in 2028.

The Latest:

L-minus tracks the overall time to liftoff, counting down the days, hours and minutes away before the planned blastoff. It doesn’t include built-in holds, or pauses — that’s T-minus time.

The T-minus countdown in the final 10 minutes is where nerves tense up and hearts start pounding. Automated software kicks off a series of highly choreographed milestones. During this period, the clock can be stopped if a problem is spotted and restarted if it’s fixed in time.

T-0 is the moment of liftoff — zero — when the boosters ignite and the rocket begins its journey.

NASA has a narrow time frame each month to fly to the moon.

The Earth and moon must be aligned just so to achieve the proper trajectory for the mission. In any given month, there’s only about a week when Artemis II astronauts can lift off.

The Orion capsule needs to get a check of its life-support and other systems in near-Earth orbit. If that goes well, Orion will fire its main engine to hurtle toward the moon, taking advantage of the moon and Earth’s gravity to get there and back in a slingshot maneuver that requires little if any fuel.

Orion also needs sunlight for power and can’t be in darkness for more than 90 minutes at a time. Plus NASA wants to minimize heating during reentry at flight’s end.

The latest launch window runs through April 6. The next opportunity opens on April 30.

The hydrogen tank of the rocket’s core stage is 100% filled. NASA said no significant leaks have been observed so far in fueling. It was hydrogen leaks that prevented the rocket from flying in February.

The alarm clocks just went off in Kennedy Space Center’s crew quarters.

That means it’s rise and shine for the three Americans and one Canadian who are about to become the first lunar visitors in more than 53 years.

They have a long day ahead of them, whether they launch or not.

After breakfast, they’ll start suiting up. NASA’s launch window opens at 6:24 p.m. and lasts a full two hours.

Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson is wearing green as are many of the controllers alongside her in the firing room.

Green represents “go” for NASA, a color symbolizing good luck.

The team is monitoring the fueling of the 322-foot moon rocket, set to blast off Wednesday evening.

A plush toy named Rise will ride with the Artemis II astronauts around the moon, carrying the names of more than 5.6 million people.

Rise is what’s known as a zero gravity indicator, which gives the astronauts a visual cue of when they reach space.

The design was inspired by the iconic “Earthrise” photo during Apollo 8, showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968.

Rise was selected from more than 2,600 contest submissions. It was designed by Lucas Ye of California.

Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew tucked a small memory card into Rise before the toy was loaded into the Orion capsule. The card bears the names of all those who signed up with NASA to vicariously tag along on the nearly 10-day journey.

“Zipping that little pocket on the bottom of Rise was kind of the moment that put it all together for me,” Wiseman said. “We are going for all and by all. It’s time to fly.”

NASA is fueling the new rocket that will send four astronauts to the moon.

Launch teams have begun pumping more than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

It’s the latest milestone in the two-day countdown that kicked off on Monday when launch controllers reported to duty.

It will take at least four hours to fully load the rocket before astronauts climb aboard for humanity’s first flight to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

The two-hour launch window opens at 6:24 p.m. EDT.

▶ Read more about Apollo vs. Artemis

The Americans who blazed the trail to the moon more than half a century ago were white men chosen for their military test pilot experience.

The Artemis II crew includes a woman, a person of color and a Canadian, products of a more diversified astronaut corps.

▶ Read more about Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen and Reid Wiseman

NASA's Artermis II moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center hours ahead of planned liftoff Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NASA's Artermis II moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center hours ahead of a planned launch attempt Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Photographers set up remote cameras near NASA's Artermis II moon rocket on Launch Pad 39-B just before sunrise at the Kennedy Space Center Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)