Ukraine’s railways under fire: ‘alarming trend’ of drone attacks rising with 5,000 Russian strikes recorded

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) has faced nearly 5,000 enemy attacks. Oleksandr Pertsovsky, Chairman of Ukrzaliznytsia’s Board, described the trend as “alarming”, noting that attacks are intensifying, especially in spring 2026. These strikes have long evolved beyond targeting bridges and stations to hunting trains in motion, using drones to ambush trains on open tracks. 

“If you plot the curve of these attacks, their number is increasing,” said Oleksandr Pertsovsky, Chairman of Ukrzaliznytsia’s Board, to Ukrainian press agency Interfax at the end of March. “The enemy now focuses on transport infrastructure, particularly trains, while they are running.” This tactic, he added, reflects a deliberate shift from energy infrastructure to mobility, aiming to disrupt Ukraine’s lifeline.

39 railway workers have been killed in the line of duty since the beginning of the war. This was stated by Pertsovsky, speaking to a correspondent of news site Ukrinform. Among the most devastating strikes was the attack on the Barvinkove–Lviv–Chop passenger train on 27 January 2026, when three Shahed drones struck near the village of Yazykove in Kharkiv region. Six people died, two were injured. According to Ukrainian Railways, 300 passengers were saved only because railway workers acted within minutes, guiding them to safety, providing first aid, and disconnecting undamaged cars to prevent fire spread.

The attacks result in a growing number of assets of Ukrainian Railways (UZ) that have been damaged, board chairman Pertsovsky told Ukrinform. Since 2022, 25,836 railway objects were damaged as of March 2026, including 319 passenger cars, 341 locomotives, 1,704 freight cars, and 117 stations.

A new security architecture

Faced with the Russian threat, Ukrzaliznytsia has built a 24/7 monitoring system, deploying 15 regional teams connected to radar, air defence, and military coordination, Pertovsky told news agency Interfax. These teams track drones in real time, deciding within moments whether to halt a train or evacuate passengers.

“This is the result of real monitoring, very often real-time coordination with our military and air defence forces,” Pertsovsky explained.“They confirm what type of object is in the sky and whether it poses a real threat, then we decide: stop the train or evacuate.”

In the event of a strike, a railcar can become a trap: metal deforms instantly, fires break out, and chemicals are released. Ukrzaliznytsia’s guidelines include that passengers must leave bulky items behind, take documents and phones, and follow the conductor’s instructions to disperse quickly and avoid crowds near the train. In the case of explosions nearby, they are advised to lie face down on the ground and cover their heads. A signal by voice, megaphone, or whistle confirms when it is safe to return.

Evacuation drills and tragic lessons

Over 4,000 train crew members have undergone special evacuation training, learning to act under drone attacks. “Unfortunately, no one in the world has been trained on how to act when a Shahed drone is flying overhead,” Pertsovsky admitted. “Reality forces us to adapt.”

Tragic incidents have also occurred during the evacuation processes of trains. On 22 March, a just 19-year-old new employee of Ukrainian Railways was fatally struck by an oncoming train while guiding passengers to safety on the Odessa Railway, UZ said on Telegram. The oncoming train was also heading to its evacuation stop. Another passenger was moderately injured in the incident. Ukrzaliznytsia called the event “extremely unfortunate” and launched a thorough investigation, while emphasising that strict adherence to boarding and evacuation rules saves lives.

Another tragedy occurred on 24 March 2026, when a 61-year-old passenger on a regional train in the Kharkiv region died on board the train. According to preliminary information, the man refused to evacuate during a drone threat. After the incident, Ukrainian Railways said it is strengthening passenger safety rules on the road and urged passengers to familiarise themselves with the basic evacuation rules in advance and to clearly follow the instructions of the conductors on the way.

The cost and the fight ahead

The war has forced Ukrzaliznytsia to balance speed, safety, and survival. The company is open to developing insurance products with insurers to cover delays and damages, though it acknowledges that force majeure exclusions complicate risk assessment. “The only issue is whether the insurance market is ready to take on these risks,” Pertsovsky said.

Despite the chaos, Ukrzaliznytsia continues to move. Since the invasion began, it has transported 97.6 million passengers and 600 million tonnes of cargo, including grain, armour, humanitarian aid, and civilians fleeing conflict. Ticket prices remain affordable during martial law, ensuring that evacuation and survival do not come at the cost of accessibility, says UZ.

Apart from evacuations for trains under threat, Ukrainian Railways is also still involved in evacuating people from dangerous areas near the front, just like what happened on a larger scale at the beginning of the war. On April 4, UZ said on Telegram that it helped evacuate 125 residents of the Donetsk region, including 11 people with limited mobility, and 16 pets left with them.

4 years of war

On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on 24 February, Ukrzaliznytsia posted about “Pulsing Pain”, an art installation created by Mykola Kabluka of Expolight Arts from a destroyed passenger car of the Barvinkove–Lviv–Chop train. The wreckage, struck by a Shahed drone on 27 January 2026, now speaks through light. Its cold exterior is meant to evoke the night of an explosion, its warm interior symbolising memory that does not fade.

Art installation ‘Pulsing Pain’. © image: Ukrzaliznytsia via Telegram

“This car was destroyed by an enemy drone strike. There were civilians inside,” the artist, Mykola Kabluka, wrote. “The only thing left after that was charred metal, silence, and pain that can neither be justified nor forgotten.”
Ukraine’s railways remain a target, but they are also a testament to endurance. As Ukrainian Railways noted standing still at 4 years of war, “We continue the most important thing, to transport home.”

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