Russia has greatly intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s railway network, which plays a key role in the country’s logistics and military supply – writes the Croatian portal Index in an analytical piece, as cited in Hungary by the local news site Index.
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According to the article, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba says the number of Russian strikes has tripled since July, and in 2025 more than 800 attacks have already hit railway infrastructure, causing an estimated one billion dollars in damage.
According to the management of Ukrzaliznytsia, the attacks are becoming increasingly targeted: precision drones now specifically aim at locomotives and train drivers. The railway is Ukraine’s “circulatory system,” handling more than 60 percent of freight traffic and the overwhelming majority of international passenger traffic, since civilian airports have not been operating since the beginning of the war.
The Lozova railway station in the Kharkiv region recently suffered a severe drone strike: the main building was damaged, the platforms became unusable, and several trains were hit. Local leaders say the Russians clearly tried to paralyze the nodal infrastructure, which provides connections in four important directions, including toward the front lines.
Experts warn that while tracks can be repaired relatively quickly, replacing locomotives and rolling stock is much more difficult. If the pace of attacks remains unchanged, rail traffic could grind to a halt even with intact tracks – simply because there is nothing left to run on them.
Let me preface what follows, as I have done several times before, by saying that I am not a supporter of killing and destruction; no sane person can rejoice at devastation. However, looking at it purely from an expert standpoint, I asked myself already after the outbreak of the war why the Russians were not targeting Ukraine’s railway network and the bridges that serve it.
This “circulatory system” contributes greatly to supplying the army, especially along the lines coming in from Poland. I do not know the explanation for this earlier inaction; I could only speculate, and there is little point in that. What is clear, however, is that the Russians have begun to make up for this “backlog,” and in recent times they have started systematically weakening Ukraine’s railway network.
In doing so, they are further contributing to the weakening of the AFU. We will be hearing more about this…
