A Ukrainian soldier has shared a harrowing account of the instant a passenger train was struck by Russian drones, an attack that ultimately claimed five lives. The officer, known by the call-sign Omar, found himself on the affected train during a journey from Chop, near the Slovakian border, to Barvinkove, a station positioned close to the front lines in eastern Ukraine.
The incident began when the first of three incoming Russian drones impacted near the train, causing it to halt. This was rapidly followed by what Omar described as the “rumble of another drone,” culminating in a significant explosion. The force of this blast was so intense that portions of the train carriage were fractured into fragments.
As the commander of a drone unit himself, Omar immediately recognized the acute danger. He understood that the train, now stationary, presented an easy target for observing drone operators and that further strikes were highly probable. His directive for passengers to evacuate was issued moments before the targeted carriage ignited.
He estimated that 291 individuals were onboard when the attack commenced. The carriage that sustained a direct hit was swiftly enveloped in flames. For Omar, a soldier accustomed to conflict, the situation was still deeply unsettling. He noted, “I am in the military and I am prepared for such attacks. But for others it was a shock to be so close to death.” Many passengers, visibly distressed, were seen screaming and crying as they moved away from the burning wreckage.
Recognizing the extreme danger of keeping such a large group near the inferno, Omar urged them to seek safety along a nearby motorway. He then, with several other passengers, returned to the train to ensure no one was left behind. A grim discovery awaited him: a deceased individual in one of the carriages.
Continuing his search, Omar located a young woman with a baby in the final carriage. “She was very scared and had no idea what to do but thank God she was alive,” he recounted. The woman, having had little time to dress warmly, expressed a desperate need to return to the carriage for her belongings, including essential documents. Her stated purpose for the journey, Omar later learned, was to bring their child to her husband, a soldier serving on the front line.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack on the passenger train, labeling it an act of terrorism. This strike targeted a crucial artery of Ukraine’s railway system, a network that has become a symbol of national resilience throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
The Ukrainian railway network, spanning 21,000 kilometers (approximately 13,000 miles), is vital for millions of citizens, facilitating domestic travel and connections to neighboring countries essential for onward journeys by air. Despite past targeting by Russian forces, the national rail company, Ukrzaliznytsia, has largely maintained operations. However, intensified attacks on infrastructure, coupled with severe weather conditions, have increasingly led to prolonged delays across the network.
Earlier in autumn, train services to Kramatorsk, a city located in the Donetsk region near the front, were suspended due to the escalating danger from continuous Russian aerial assaults. In remembrance of the train victims, flags were flown at half-mast at railway stations across Ukraine on Wednesday. The daily national moment of silence was also dedicated to those lost in the drone strike.
Remarkably, train services on the Barvinkove-Chop line resumed operations just hours after the attack had concluded.