Russia targets Ukraine's lifeline railways with 'systematic' attacks, CEO says

By Max Hunder and Pavel Polityuk

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia has unleashed a massive wave of attacks on Ukraine's railways since the summer, using new tactics to hit key nodes with long-range drones, but the network is holding up for now, the CEO of the state railway company told Reuters.

"Their first aim is to sow panic among passengers, their second aim is to hit the overall economy," Oleksandr Pertsovskyi said in an interview held in a rail carriage at Kyiv's central station.

There did not appear to be a particular focus on targeting military cargo. "These are all, in essence, strikes on civilian infrastructure," he said.

RAILWAY ATTACKS HAVE INTENSIFIED

Ukrzaliznytsia, the vast state-owned railway company, employs 170,000 people and has been the target of Russian attacks since the start of Russia's invasion three-and-a-half years ago, but attacks have intensified, causing regular delays.

Since the start of the war in February 2022, the railway network has been a lifeline for people moving around Ukraine and out of the country, as all civilian flights have been grounded.

World leaders, from French President Emmanuel Macron to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former U.S. President Joe Biden, have arrived in wartime Ukraine by train.

The rail company's popular sleeper carriages are seen as a reliable way to travel overnight and arrive early in the morning in cities many hundreds of miles away, until the latest Russian onslaught began to delay passengers by several hours.

The railway is also crucial for transporting military equipment and commercial cargo, although volumes of the latter have dropped significantly in wartime, denting the company's finances.

Pertsovskyi said the attacks, which have hit dozens of substations, were linked to the dramatic increase in long-range drones that Russia's military-industrial complex is producing.

"Previously, they simply did not have sufficient resources for a single combat drone, such as a Shahed, to hunt down a locomotive. Now they can afford to use Shaheds to hit individual locomotives rather than strategic targets."

QUICK RECOVERY BUT AT A COST

For now, the railway is recovering from each blow, he said.

The immediate disruption to trains after an attack usually lasts six to 12 hours and electric locomotives are switched out for diesel while power is restored.

Pertsovskyi said disruption had been minimised and the transit of military cargoes had not been impacted.

"It's a marathon ... They strike us, we recover," he said. "They strike us, we recover."

Since the middle of summer, Russia has attacked railway electricity substations and other infrastructure nodes with an average of six to seven long-range Shahed kamikaze drones most nights, according to Pertsovskyi.

"They are ... acting systematically, knocking out one substation after another or key rail hubs in order to stop passenger trains and sow panic and distrust among the people."

Five or six key rail hubs have been bombarded since the summer, he said.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Russia denies targeting Ukrainian civilians.

The railway also faces sabotage from agents recruited by Russia in Ukraine. Ukraine's security services regularly announce the detention of people they accuse of plotting to blow up vulnerable points on the network.

This is less of a threat than Russian airstrikes, but sabotage is on the rise with dozens of cases recorded this year, Pertsovskyi said.

And diesel locomotives are about five times more expensive to run per kilometre than their electric equivalents - an additional headache for a company with deep financial issues.

The World Bank estimates that roughly 30% of Ukraine's railway is in a "damage-repair" cycle.

Some bridges had been hit many times over by Russian forces throughout the war and repaired each time, but Pertsovskyi declined to specify which ones, citing security reasons. The company would keep up the pace of repairs, he said.

"If we slow down a little and let the enemy strike and destroy, then they will be even more drawn to the smell of blood."

(Reporting by Max Hunder and Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Ros Russell)