Russia is increasingly attacking trains and the railway network in Ukraine, a three-fold increase since July, said Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister responsible for infrastructure. TASR informs about it according to the website of the British newspaper The Gurdian.
- Russia is intensifying its attacks on Ukraine’s railway infrastructure.
- There have been 800 attacks on railways since the beginning of the year.
- Damage to the rail network exceeded one billion dollars.
- Shahid’s precision drones damage locomotives and railway objects.
- Railways in Ukraine are crucial for freight and passenger transport.
Attacks on the rail network have already caused billions of dollars in damage
“If you compare just the last three months, the number of attacks has tripled,” Kuleba said. “Since the beginning of the year, there have been 800 attacks on railway infrastructure and more than 3,000 railway objects have been damaged. In these escalating attacks, we have seen that they are attacking trains, especially trying to kill train drivers,” he explained.
Kuleba said that attacks on the rail network since the beginning of 2025 have caused a total of one billion dollars (over 858 million euros) in damage.
Percovskyj: The Russians have very accurate drones
In such a large country as Ukraine, railways are crucial. According to official data, they transport more than 63 percent of freight traffic, including grain, and 37 percent of passenger traffic. Even military aid from abroad often arrives by train.
“Now that (the Russians) have very accurate Shahid drones, they are targeting individual locomotives,” said Oleksandr Percovsky, director of the state railway company.
Kuleba said Russia has three goals: destroy Ukrainian logistics in the south to prevent the movement of goods to seaports; disrupt rail traffic near the front lines in regions such as Chernihiv and Sumy; and “destroy everything” in Donbass.
Trains are particularly vulnerable to drones
The railways have also been the target of false bomb threats, and those responsible have no doubt that Russia is responsible for this. While tracks can be repaired quickly, damage to rolling stock is a more worrisome problem.
In a recent interview with the AP, Ukrainian military drone expert Serhiy Beskrestnov said trains are particularly vulnerable to drones because they are relatively slow and follow predictable routes.
