Inside Ukraine's 'rail war' against the Russian invasion

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, one striking aspect of the war has come to the fore: The critical role played by Ukraine's railway system.

The nation's extensive network of freight and passenger lines is at once a life-saving humanitarian resource, a tool of diplomacy - and a potent weapon of self-defence.

On Mar 17, Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called for a "total rail war" against the invading troops - simultaneously keeping supply lines to the front open and disrupting any in use by the Russians.

Some seem to have taken this call to heart.

Oleksandr Kamyshin, the chairman of national carrier Ukrzaliznytsia (or Ukrainian Railways), implied in an recent interview that rail workers in neighbouring Belarus had helped Ukraine's war effort by sabotaging rail links towards the border, to impede the flow of Russian troops and military equipment - a claim later repeated in a tweet from an adviser to the Belarusian resistance.

This suggestion that railway workers are actively hindering the Russian advance came one week after the Polish, Czech and Slovenian prime ministers all chose to travel by train to Kyiv for talks with President Zelenskyy, a reflection of their confidence in the network's safety. 

Since the invasion began in late February, Ukraine's railway system has been a coveted prize for Russian forces, whose efforts to control logistics hubs in major cities such as Kharkiv and Kyiv have been foiled by stiff local resistance.

Instead, Ukrzaliznytsia has remained in Ukrainian hands, and its fleet has functioned as the main means of escape for millions of civilians fleeing to the relative safety of western Ukraine and the countries beyond the nation's borders.

At the peak of the refugee migration in early March, 190,000 rail passengers a day travelled westward in free evacuation trains. 

In some ways, the current fate of Ukraine's railways reflects shifts in the country as a whole: Links with Russia and Belarus are being severed while those with countries to the West are being strengthened.

Polish volunteers have even attempted to revive defunct 19th-century lines crossing into Poland in an effort to assist evacuations.

It's a system that has so far proved remarkably resilient and adaptable, continuing to move refugees, humanitarian supplies and troops around the country - even stepping in to serve as urban transit.

With war conditions in Kyiv making it impossible to run metro services between the two banks of the River Dnipro, the national railways opened a cross-river link across a bridge in a southern section of the city relatively safe from bombardment. On Mar 29, suburban rail services also resumed in the heavily shelled city of Kharkiv. 

For rail staff and refugees alike, the crush of passengers created extremely difficult conditions. 

When Serhi and Ira, who asked not to have their full names published, evacuated Kyiv with their one-year-old son Petro, they were only able to get on a train because an engineer allowed the family to ride in his cramped driver's compartment for the 13-hour trip to the western city of Lviv.

"That's five hours longer than usual at peacetime," Serhi said in an interview.

"We didn't sleep the whole night - my wife and I took turns sitting on the seat, depending on who was holding the sleeping kid. But we took no notice of the conditions, we were just grateful to the locomotive driver for his kindness and understanding. He has a huge heart."