Fear and disruption for Ukraine's rail passengers as Russia escalates drone attacks

Russian drones have intensified attacks on Ukrainian passenger trains, significantly disrupting travel since the end of last year. Ukrainian Railways, which have been crucial for the country's mobility since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, reports that over half of all strikes on locomotives have occurred this year alone.

Yuliia Ponomarenko, a 27-year-old marketing specialist from Kharkiv, experienced a harrowing journey to Warsaw last month. Just before reaching the Ukraine-Poland border, she was ordered to evacuate her train due to shelling. "The border guards started running around and shouting 'Run! Get out of the carriages! There's shelling!'" she recounted. A Russian drone had struck a locomotive nearby, shortly after a special train carrying former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other dignitaries had passed.

Passengers on Yuliia's train waited for six hours while the fire was extinguished and the line cleared. "We were really lucky that we were delayed a little and it wasn't our train," she said. This incident is part of a growing trend of disruptions faced by Ukrainian passengers, as air raid alerts lead to emergency evacuations far from the front lines.

In September, 5,831 trains were evacuated due to drone attacks, averaging 205 trains stopped each day, according to Ukrzaliznytsia.