Ukrainian railways feel the force of Russian attacks
Railways in the east are targeted as repairs get underway to keep the railways running.
FOLLOWING the initial failure of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, Russian forces have withdrawn from the area around the capital Kyiv and regrouped to attack the easternmost parts of the country, where the Donbas region has insurgent governments controlling major cities that declared themselves independent of Ukraine in 2014.
In advance of the main attack in the Donbas in midApril, the Russian military sought to disrupt transport and communications within the areas controlled by the Ukrainian government, and the national railway network operated by Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) has become a major target.
A station in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine was hit by a Russian missile attack on April 8, when it was packed with refugees waiting for trains to take them westwards. At least 59 people were reported killed and a further 109 injured. It is believed Russian forces were aiming to capture Sloviansk at the time, which is around 16kms (10 miles) north of Kramatorsk.
Much of central and western Ukraine had returned to a new normality by mid-April, no longer under continuous attack, but not free of all danger. Russian ballistic missiles hit the western city of Lviv on April 18. One of the places hit was reportedly adjacent to several major railway lines, although it is unclear if they or the tyre workshop actually hit were the real target.
In Kyiv, the Metro returned to normal operation as stations were no longer being used as bomb shelters.
In late April, the Ukrainian government said dozens of railway bridges had been damaged or destroyed across the country, but UZ has begun the repair of railways damaged in the temporary Russian occupation of areas north and east of Kyiv.
Evacuees and VIPs
UZ has continued to operate evacuation trains from the Donbas region to other cities, although trains are operating at reduced speeds in case of derailments caused by air or artillery attacks, and strict blackout rules apply at night to minimise trains’ visibility. However, The flow of refugees to Poland and other neighbouring countries had slowed to a trickle, with more people going back to Ukraine rather than leaving by late April, and so the special trains being operated in Poland and Germany have been wound down or reduced.
UZ has also restarted transporting mail and parcels by rail for the first time in two decades as the country’s road network is now more dangerous to use and can be much slower due to frequent security checkpoints.
Several prominent European politicians have visited Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv in recent weeks, all travelling by train from Poland as flying is too dangerous given the possibility of Russian attacks.
On April 8, the EU President Mrs Ursula von der Leyen took the train from Przemyśl in Poland, while on April 10 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the same trip. Three days later the presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia made the trip from Przemyśl to Kyiv.
Earlier in the conflict, on
March 15 when there was a real chance of the train being caught in the Russian attacks, the prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia had made the same trip together by train to meet with President Zelenskiy.