Ukrainian Rail Passengers Face Rising Danger as Russian Drone Campaigns Intensify

For seventeen-year-old Anastasiia Ryvbalchenko, the encounter came perilously close.

On 16 September, she and her fellow travelers were compelled to evacuate the train at 4am, nearing the conclusion of an arduous journey from Odesa to Kirovohrad.

“Evacuations were frequent on my way to Odesa, yet returning home brought the same routine again,” she explains. “I knew if another one occurred, I simply could not cope.”

Ninety minutes later, while travelers waited in the darkness, a drone struck nearby.

“The detonation was deafening, and everyone instinctively scrambled into the nearby woods,” she recalled.

Although the intended target remains unidentified and the train itself escaped damage, a series of subsequent explosions illuminating the night sky prompted Anastasiia to leave quickly. She continued on foot until she was reunited with her parents.

“I have no intention of traveling by rail again,” she states.

While Anastasiia’s experience was far more dramatic than the average commute, delays—ranging from short interruptions to standstills lasting hours—have become the norm.

Since Russian drones began targeting moving passenger trains in late 2025, the routine for riders has grown all too predictable: disembark, monitor Telegram feeds for reports on aerial and missile activity, and notify loved ones of the disruption.

Source link