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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Moscow increasingly attacks Ukrainian trains.
Russia has opened a new deadly phase of its war against Ukraine, deliberately targeting the country’s railway network, The Guardian notes. During the latest strikes on Kyiv on Tuesday, six railway workers were killed.
The state company Ukrzaliznytsia said its workers were killed by a ballistic missile strike on the locomotive depot. During the massive shelling of Kyiv and the Kyiv region, Russians also attacked other railway facilities. In total, at least 12 people were killed, about a dozen were injured, among them three children.
“An unbearably hard night for the entire railway family. Since early morning, railway workers have been at the scene. The attack caused substantial damage. Rescue services are still putting out several fires,” said Oleksandr Perovskyi, head of Ukrzaliznytsia’s board.
This deadly strike occurred against the backdrop of intensified Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital. Since last week, Russia has been launching continuous attacks for six days in a row, trying to disrupt daily life and demoralize the city’s residents. The massive assault occurred just hours before the start of the new school year for Ukrainian children.
Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, 58 railway workers have died, and at least 318 have been injured. One of the injured railway workers, Volodymyr, was taken to the hospital. People with blood type AB have been urged to donate — that is his blood type.
Ukraine’s railway network is the third largest in Europe: its tracks stretch for 24 thousand kilometers. During the war it has become vital for civilians, transporting four million people and about 120 thousand domestic animals. It is by rail that world leaders arrive in Kyiv, including Joe Biden and Andy Burnham, who last week arrived by night train from Poland.
Sergiy Leshchenko, a member of Ukrzaliznytsia’s supervisory board, called the railway “the backbone of the Ukrainian economy.” He said it is the main logistical artery for the Ukrainian army and industry, and it transports 600 thousand people weekly. With 170 thousand employees, Ukrzaliznytsia is also Ukraine’s largest company.
That is why, according to Leshchenko, Russia is trying to destroy it.
In the first year of the war, the Russians attacked bridges that could be relatively quickly rebuilt. Then they began striking tracks and electrical substations. In response, Ukraine switched to using diesel locomotives. And this year Russia began “direct attacks on civilian locomotives,” Leshchenko said. This is an especially dangerous tactic amid Ukraine’s shortages of air defense.
As a result of such attacks, several drivers have already been killed, and locomotives have become targets directly in depots. According to Leshchenko, if a Shahed comes within 50 kilometers of a train, passengers are evacuated, and movement can continue only after the danger has passed.
Since the start of this year alone, Russia has attacked Ukraine’s railway network more than 1500 times — more than in the entire 2025 year. In total, 249 cars and 492 locomotives have been damaged.
Ukrainian trains, once renowned for their punctuality, now regularly run late — sometimes by 12–15 hours. During air raids, passengers must get off the carriages and hide in shelters, including in winter.
Ukrainian journalist Tetiana Zayets described on Facebook how in April she had to hide when Russian drones flew over the train.
“It was hell. The train stopped somewhere in central Ukraine at night. I don’t even know the city name. In my sleep I heard the conductor say, ‘Evacuation.’ We took only personal belongings and valuables. It was raining outside. I thank the conductors who handed out blankets,” she wrote.
“We held on for two hours. While suicide drones buzzed above us, we crawled under a goods wagon. The last carriage of the train was full of children. They were being taken back from a hospital. They cried in their sleep. I thought I had fallen into some horror film. But no, this is our life,” the journalist added.
Zayets said that after that incident she became too frightened to travel by rail.
“Until the war ends I will not use it,” she said, emphasizing that she nevertheless respects brave Ukrainian railway workers.
Last week a hostile drone struck a train in the Odesa region, where 600 people were aboard, including 15 children.
“The train halted, we were dropped off. We heard explosions, everything was on fire. It was terrifying,” one passenger, Andriy, told Suspilne.
Another passenger, Eva, said she was evacuated twice and once “dropped off right in a field.”
“We sat there and heard something flying. Then we saw a drone very close by.”
According to her, she managed to take her belongings, and later a bus picked her and other passengers up.
Leshchenko admitted that Russian strikes harm Ukraine’s economy and slowed grain exports from the Black Sea ports, which are also under shelling. He said Kyiv needs air defense from Western partners to protect trains from Russian missiles and drones.
“If they attack the whole country, they will surely attack the railway,” he said.
Until this year, more than 90% of Ukrainian trains arrived on time. Part of the explanation is that they never moved very fast — about 88 km/h.
The carriages are clean and comfortable, and the railway remains the best way to move across a huge country. Night-train conductors look after passengers and bring them tea in traditional glass holders in the morning. Day trains have beverage and food trolleys, and Wi-Fi is available, though unstable.
At international border crossings, border guards thoroughly check male passengers, and service dogs walk the car corridors. Since the invasion began, men aged 18 to 60 have been barred from leaving the country, though there are exceptions. On trains from Kyiv to Przemyśl — a major rail hub in eastern Poland — most passengers are women. Since 2022, about six million people have left the country, many by rail.
In recent days Russia has launched more than 1500 drones at Ukraine, 800 of them being maneuverable missiles that are harder to shoot down.
Previously Moscow typically launched drone swarms several times a week, mostly at night. Now attacks are nearly continuous: one or two drones are launched every hour, paralyzing everyday life. Air alarms in Kyiv barely stop.
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