The Trains of Ukraine Go to War

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, one striking aspect of the war has come to the fore: the critical role played by Ukraine’s railway system. The nation’s extensive network of freight and passenger lines is at once a life-saving humanitarian resource, a tool of diplomacy — and a potent weapon of self-defense. On March 17, Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, called for a “total rail war” against the invading troops — simultaneously keeping supply lines to the front open and disrupting any in use by the Russians.

Some seem to have taken this call to heart. Oleksandr Kamyshin, the chairman of national carrier Ukrzaliznytsia (or Ukrainian Railways), implied in an recent interview that rail workers in neighboring Belarus had helped Ukraine’s war effort by sabotaging rail links toward the border, to impede the flow of Russian troops and military equipment — a claim later repeated in a tweet from an adviser to the Belarusian resistance.