Ukrainian Railways workers maintain essential services amid Russian drone strikes

Staff at the national rail service, Ukrzaliznytsia, continue to operate essential services across Ukraine despite ongoing Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure. Railway workers, who refer to themselves as ‘iron people’, face significant risks, including drone strikes on passenger trains.

A damaged carriage remains on display at the central station in Kyiv as a memorial to a previous strike in eastern Ukraine that killed six people. Recent escalations have increased anxiety, following a drone strike on a locomotive near the Polish border that occurred while high-profile visitors, including former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, were in the vicinity.

Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, head of Ukrainian Railways, has called for international attention to these incidents, comparing attacks on civilian trains to military strikes on civilian aircraft.