Threefold rise in air attacks as Russia tries to cripple Ukraine's vital railway network

Ukraine has recorded a threefold increase in attacks on its railway system since July, according to a senior minister.

- Peter Beaumont

Oleksii Kuleba, a deputy prime minister with responsibility for infrastructure, said Russian raids on the network since the start of 2025 had caused damage costing £760m.

“If you compare just the last three months, attacks have increased three times over,” 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. What we have seen in these escalating attacks is that they are going after trains, especially trying to kill the drivers.”

Railways, which are critical because of Ukraine’s size, carry 63% of the country’s freight, including grain shipments, and 37% of passenger traffic, according to the state statistics service.

Military aid from foreign countries often arrives by train. No civilian airports have been in operation since Russia’s full-scale invasion, so most people travel in and out of the country - including visiting world leaders - by rail.

“It’s not just about the quantity [of attacks], it’s also the approach of the enemy forces,” said Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, who is the chief executive of Ukrzaliznytsia, the state railway service.

“Now, as they have very precise Shahed drones, they are targeting individual locomotives.”