Russia intensifies strikes on Ukraine’s trains in ‘battle for the railways’

Lying in her hospital bed, railway conductor Olha Zolotova speaks slowly and calmly as she talks about the day a Russian drone targeted her train.

“At the witness [drone] I was covered in rubble. I was in the second car. “People took me out,” she says.

“My eyes went dark. There was fire everywhere, everything was burning, and my hair caught fire a little. I was trapped.”

The first has become a victim of increasingly frequent Russian attacks on Ukraine’s railway network – critical infrastructure that has kept the country moving for the three-and-a-half years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

Ukraine’s 21,000 km (13,000 mi) railway system is not just a means of transportation, it is a key pillar of Ukraine’s war effort and a powerful national symbol of resilience.

The first of her injuries were serious, so she was transported more than 300 kilometers (185 miles) to a private hospital in the capital, Kiev, designated for railway workers.

She had just had surgery on her hip and had a metal plate inserted into her leg.

Its train was involved in an accident earlier this month at a station in Shostka in the northern Sumy region.

As rescue workers sought to tend to the wounded, a second Russian drone struck the station, a type of strike known as a “double-tap.”

Ukraine says civilians and rescue teams were directly targeted, which could constitute a potential war crime under international law.

Thirty people were injured in total. Among those treated at the hospital were three children, and a man was found dead, possibly of a heart attack.

According to the national railway company Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ), there were twice as many attacks in September as in August – not just on trains but on the infrastructure supporting the railway network.

In fact, half of the attacks on railways since the start of the war have occurred in the past two months, says Oleksiy Ballesta, deputy minister in the administration that oversees the railway network.

“Almost every day over the past two months we have witnessed targeted attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and on energy transmission facilities,” he says.

Ballista points out that Russia was “looking for locomotives – and deliberately targeting freight and passenger trains.”

Behind the deputy minister is a wrecked locomotive, part of the Ukrainian intercity fleet, which was targeted in eastern Kiev on one particularly devastating night at the end of August.

The attack also included a strike on the main railway junction at Kozyatin in the central Vinnytsia region, causing delays and forcing major diversions.

As he speaks, Ballista receives a message from his assistant. Another attack occurred on a train between Kramatorsk and Slovyansk in the eastern Donetsk region, near the front line.

Already today, there have been three bomb threats on other services, forcing staff to evacuate trains until explosives experts clear everything up.

Officials here point to two main factors that they believe led to this intense wave of attacks.

First, Russia’s increasing ability to produce large numbers of relatively inexpensive Shahed drones every day, which are increasingly capable of flying greater distances.

Then there is the near stalemate on the front line – and the consequent shift in the Russian military’s focus to disrupting supply lines instead.

“It’s a very clear battle for railways,” says Oleksandr Bertsovsky, CEO of UZ.

“The enemy is trying to stop us completely. This is part of a war tactic aimed at creating panic among civilians, destroying our economy, and making the country unlivable.”

Repairing the damage as quickly as possible, coordinating with the military and training its personnel to recognize potential sabotage threats are all key to Ukraine’s response, Bertsovsky says.

“Finally, we always have good backup plans. The goal is never to cancel one service or destination. If the train cannot run, we combine trains and buses.”

Beyond practicalities, there is also a clear eye on passenger morale.

“Recently, a train from Kiev to Sumy had to be rerouted, adding six hours for safety reasons,” says the UZ president.

“One passenger posted on social media that she would be spending her birthday on the train instead of her boyfriend – but she said she understood. We sent her a cake and flowers.”

The constant threat of missiles and drones means that moving people and supplies around the country is almost impossible.

A large portion of the grain and iron ore exports on which the Ukrainian economy depends are transported by train to ports in the southern Black Sea, and westward through Poland.

All visiting political leaders from all over the world enter the country by train – “iron diplomacy”, as the Ukrainians call it. The workers caught in the attacks are called “Iron Heroes.”

In the grandeur of Kiev’s central station, Another government minister awards certificates of bravery to the latest group of Iron Heroes – those who fought the fires on the night of the attack on the Inter-City Depot.

“It was very scary because there were a lot of fires and damage,” says Oleksandr Leonenko, who helped extinguish the flames. He proudly showed me his degree and said it would mean some extra pay.

The escalation of attacks on railways coincided with Russia’s targeting of energy infrastructure in Ukraine. One recent attack left hundreds of thousands without power.

Meanwhile, Ukraine launched a series of attacks on Russian oil refineries, which it claimed caused gasoline shortages in many regions.

As Ukrainians look ahead to their fourth winter since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, UZ’s Oleksandr Pertsovsky believes attacks on their infrastructure could lead to the toughest winter on record.

In a message echoed by several Ukrainian officials, he called on the country’s allies to provide stronger air defenses.

“But we are not desperate. We are preparing mentally and practically. Ukrainians remain spiritually strong.”

It appears that this spirit will be tested to the limit in the coming months.

Additional reporting by Marianna Matviychuk and Anastasia Levchenko