Moscow: In a stark escalation of its campaign against Ukraine, Russia has tripled assaults on the nation’s vital rail infrastructure since July, transforming passenger and freight lines into perilous battlegrounds.
From January to mid-November this year, Ukrainian authorities have documented 800 such strikes, inflicting damages exceeding $1 billion equivalent to approximately ₹8,868 crore — disrupting a lifeline that underpins the war-torn country’s survival.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba has highlighted a sinister shift in tactics: Russian forces are no longer confining their bombardments to tracks and depots but are deliberately targeting moving trains and their operators. “This is an assault on our mobility and morale,” Kuleba asserted, underscoring the human cost amid the relentless conflict.
Ukraine’s sprawling rail network, managed by Ukrzaliznytsia, carries 63 per cent of the nation’s cargo — including vital grain exports — and 37 per cent of passenger traffic. With civilian airports shuttered following intensified Russian offensives, trains have become the sole conduit for international military aid and the preferred mode for visiting dignitaries.
Ukrzaliznytsia chief Oleksandr Pertsovskyi revealed that precision-guided Shahed drones are now zeroing in on locomotive engines, crippling operations with surgical ferocity.
A chilling example unfolded earlier this year at Lozova junction in the Kharkiv region, a bustling hub linking Dnipro, Sloviansk, Poltava, and Kharkiv. At 2:44 am, a drone barrage pulverised the station: walls crumbled, platforms caved in, and rooms were left in ruins, with five trains idling nearby. Station master Tatyana Tkachenko recounted the terror: “The blast was so thunderous it jolted us awake, a grim reminder of our vulnerability.”
Lozova’s role in ferrying troops, supplies, and evacuating the wounded makes it a strategic bullseye. In response, Ukrzaliznytsia is fortifying trains with anti-drone electronic shields and training railway staff as air defence units, a testament to ingenuity amid adversity. As winter looms, these sabotaged rails threaten to throttle Ukraine’s resolve, yet they also symbolise unyielding defiance.