The reality of Ukraine: How train passengers keep moving under drone threat

A vital route under attack

Train travel remains popular in Ukraine, where the extensive rail network connects people across the country. Many still depend on it for business and other journeys, despite the danger of Russian attacks.

Ukrzaliznytsia, the state rail operator, says more than 1,700 facilities have been attacked this year, including stations, locomotives and passenger wagons. Russia says it targets sites used by Kyiv’s military.

A drone strike on the Dnipro-Odesa line killed two train drivers on August 13. In September, another strike hit a Warsaw-bound train near the Polish border.

Evacuations interrupt journeys

On the roughly 400-kilometre route from Dnipro to Odesa, passengers may face long delays and repeated evacuations when air-raid sirens sound. People can be woken and sent into fields or along embankments, sometimes with children or pets.

Viter said evacuations happened on many of her trips. After hearing a drone overhead, she and a colleague used a phone app to follow its location while waiting outside their train.

Passengers carry on

Ukraine’s infrastructure minister says more than 50 railway workers have died on duty this year. Staff have changed their routines to keep the network running amid the growing drone and missile campaign.