Targets railway stations

Russia targets Ukrainian railway stations

Attacks come as Ukraine struggles to redirect freight transport away from its Black Sea ports.

BY HANNE COKELAERE

Five railway stations in central and western Ukraine came under Russian fire within the space of an hour Monday morning, according to the head of Ukrainian Railways, a state-owned rail transport company.

Russian troops are “systematically” destroying rail infrastructure, Oleksandr Kamyshin said in a Telegram message, adding that multiple people were injured.

The attacks come after Poland and Ukraine on Saturday announced the signature of a memorandum aimed at easing cross-border rail transport and helping Ukraine maintain freight transport while its ports are under Russian shelling.

Ukraine has been struggling to redirect freight transport to road, rail or inland waterways since Russian attacks paralyzed the Black Sea ports that are usually responsible for the bulk of the country’s trade.

“The scale of efforts is incredible … You cannot just simply switch to another route,” Ukraine's Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka told POLITICO earlier this month. While freight transport through Ukraine's seaports took years to organize, the country is now trying to launch new routes in a matter of weeks.

According to Ukrainian Railways, cross-border rail transport between Poland and Ukraine has been hampered by technical and organizational challenges, including different customs rules and different types of rail tracks.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the memorandum provides for the establishment of a joint logistics company in order to “dramatically increase the volume of the rail transport of Ukrainian exports to the EU and to global markets through Europe.” 

Ukrainian Railways started preparing plans for the joint venture with Polish colleagues a week after the start of the war, Kamyshin said in a statement Saturday.

"Combining the experience and knowledge of [Ukrainian Railways] managers and Polish colleagues will allow us to develop a unique logistics offering for the European and global market, which is renouncing Russian supplies and Russian logistics," he said.