The burnt train carriage on a city platform reminds thousands of workers of the risks they run on their journeys across Ukraine each day.
asserted
they → burn → Ukraine
The carriage at the central station in Kyiv was part of a passenger train that was hit by a Russian drone in eastern Ukraine last year, killing six people.
asserted
that → hit → people
Looking at the smashed windows and the blackened interior, many railway staff might think twice about their daily work.
uncertain
staff → look → work
But Natalia Kudrich, a railway steward, says she will not change careers.
asserted
she → say → careers
“Why do we keep working?
asserted
we → keep → ?
Because we are made of iron,” she says.
asserted
she → make → iron
Kudrich, 40, comes from a family of rail workers in Lviv, in the far west of the country.
asserted
Kudrich → come → country
She joined Ukrainian Railways when she was 19 and she has kept working throughout the war.
asserted
she → join → war
That makes her just one example of the people who keep essential services running despite Russian attacks on civilians.
asserted
who → make → civilians
The national rail service, Ukrzaliznytsia, is so vital to the country that its staff call themselves “iron people” – a play on words because the company’s name incorporates the word for iron.
asserted
name → call → iron
The latest attacks have heightened anxiety about civilian deaths.
asserted
attacks → heighten → deaths
A drone strike on a locomotive triggered global headlines last week because Russia attacked a civilian service only 2 kilometres from the Polish border when visitors, including former British prime minister Boris Johnson, were on a train nearby.
asserted
visitors → trigger → train
The head of Ukrainian Railways, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, says the attacks on trains should prompt the same outrage as a military strike on a civilian aircraft.
asserted
attacks → say → aircraft
“If this happened to an aircraft somewhere in Europe, it would be on the front page of every newspaper.
asserted
it → happen → newspaper
It is a very clear case of terrorism,” he tells this masthead in an interview in Kyiv.
asserted
he → tell → Kyiv
“Unfortunately, it’s become normal here.
asserted
it → become → ?
And it should not be happening.”
asserted
it → happen → ?
Russian forces have destroyed or damaged more than 500 locomotives across Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
uncertain
invasion → destroy → Sybiha
Half of these attacks have occurred this year alone.
asserted
Half → occur → attacks
The civilian casualties are mounting.
asserted
casualties → mount → ?
A Russian drone hit a commuter passenger train near Kharkiv Oblast last Friday, killing a man and injuring seven other passengers, Ukrainian officials said.
asserted
officials → hit → passengers
Two carriages were engulfed in flames, killing one man and wounding eight others.
asserted
carriages → engulf → others
The Russian strike near the Polish border, on September 14, highlighted the risk to passengers as well as the Kremlin’s willingness to provoke Western countries.
asserted
strike → highlight → countries
A jet-powered drone hit a Ukrainian Railways locomotive at Yahodyn station just after passengers had been evacuated from their carriages.
asserted
passengers → power → carriages
One of the passengers was former CIA director David Petraeus, who was leaving Ukraine after speaking at the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv.
asserted
who → leave → Kyiv
Videos posted to social media showed passengers running from the explosions and flames.
asserted
passengers → post → explosions
A separate train had passed through the station shortly before the drone strike, carrying another group of conference speakers including Johnson.
asserted
train → pass → Johnson
Pertsovskyi says this service was ahead of schedule.
asserted
service → say → schedule
“Pretty much every international train at the moment carries ambassadors, business people, media.
asserted
train → carry → ambassadors
Safety-wise, we are concerned for each and every one, so it’s not that we differentiate between those trains,” he says.
asserted
he → concern → trains
“It just happened to be that one of them came earlier, others were still there, and the routing decision was made on the spot.
asserted
decision → happen → spot
“Clearly, the Russians were aiming to hit very close to the EU and NATO border.
asserted
Russians → aim → border
Clearly, they were doing it at the station where there’s a bunch of trains with international visitors of all ranks.
asserted
they → do → ranks
Pertsovskyi, an economist, took on the chief executive position in August 2024 after running the passenger division for several years.
asserted
Pertsovskyi → take → years
Educated in Kyiv, he did a masters degree at Brandeis University in the US before joining logistics giant DHL, where he worked for six years in the US and Singapore.
asserted
he → educate → US
He returned to Ukraine in 2016.
asserted
He → return → 2016
What does he need most right now?
asserted
he → need → What
More locomotives, he says.
asserted
he → say → locomotives
An Australian engine, however, would not work.
asserted
engine → work → ?
The Ukrainian network, a legacy of the Soviet era, uses the 1520 millimetre broad gauge.
asserted
network → use → gauge
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
