Passengers on the «Kyiv — Mykolaiv» train spoke of the evacuation

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by Russian forces, have spoken about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Train №122 «Kyiv — Mykolaiv» was attacked by Russian forces in the early hours of 16 September, with the locomotive being hit. Passengers were evacuated in time.

Passengers on the damaged train told NikVesti how the evacuation took place.

Ukrzaliznytsia reported that monitoring channels had warned of the threat of an attack. Consequently, the passengers, as well as the locomotive and train crews, were evacuated. No one was injured.

The attack damaged the locomotive of the Kyiv-bound train. Consequently, another train — №109/110 «Lviv — Mykolaiv» — came to a halt at a station en route to Mykolaiv. Passengers from both trains were evacuated by buses organised by Heorhii Reshetilov, acting head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration.

Passengers on the “Kyiv–Mykolaiv” train, which was hit by the Russians, described the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by Russian forces, spoke about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Khrystyna, who was travelling on the «Kyiv — Mykolaiv» train, told NikVesti that the train stopped twice for evacuation.

«One evacuation took place at night: we were stationary for an hour and a half. There was another evacuation in the morning after «Shahed’» strikes. Strangely, there was one strike at first, then a second one a short while later, and then a third. I don’t know what they were trying to achieve, because it was at the very front of the train,» said the passenger.

Khrystyna said that even several hours after the evacuation, she was still in shock.

«I’m still in shock. Although I’m usually able to keep my composure — I tend to stay very calm in situations like this — but now, even though many hours have passed, I still feel a sense of constriction. It’s not a good feeling,» the young woman remarked.

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by the Russians, spoke about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by the Russians, spoke about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

She said that when the explosions happened, people reacted in different ways.

«Personally, I went into a state of shock. I wasn’t scared, even though it was right there. But I saw that everyone had different reactions: some ran, some screamed, some lay down; some had to lie down because it was so close. It came in waves, so to speak. It was particularly challenging for vulnerable groups, such as children with disabilities; that was certainly the most problematic part,” noted Khrystyna.

According to her, people were evacuated in good time. A few hours later, they were allowed to collect their belongings from the train and walked to the buses.

«They handed out blankets, because it’s cold both in the morning and at night. Then they tried to organise people somehow, but everyone had their own take on the situation. But when the first strike hit, then the second, everyone was either running or heading for safer places. Plus, there are fields here, not woods, and that feeling that something is constantly flying overhead in all directions and you don’t know where it’s going to land — it’s a bit like that,» said Khrystyna.

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by the Russians, spoke about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by Russian forces, spoke about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Oleksandr, who was also travelling on the «Kyiv — Mykolaiv» train, said that debris was falling nearby.

«There were children there, screaming. A father was carrying a child; the child was shrieking and crying. The debris was literally 10–20 metres away from us. Nobody was hurt. Help was needed. The police were the first to run away, instead of dispersing the crowd to help the girls and women,» said Oleksandr.

He noted that some people fell whilst evacuating from the train.

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«When you’re going down, there’s rubble on the ground, so yes, people did fall, and they were helped back up,» the passenger shared.

Passengers on the «Lviv — Mykolaiv» train, who were also evacuated because the train could not continue its journey, shared their experiences too. Liubov explained that she was travelling from Boryslav to Peresadivka to visit her daughter. According to her, the conductors were very helpful to the passengers.

«The siren went off. We were all told to get ready to go into the woods. We sat there for a little while, then we were told to get back on when it was time to leave. We didn’t have to wait long. We got off, and the buses were there straight away,» said Liubov.

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by the Russians, spoke about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by Russian forces, spoke about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Another passenger, Liudmyla, said she was travelling to visit her daughter in Germany. There were three evacuations. After that, people were taken away by bus.

«The train was four hours late, and then we had to take a bus. I managed to collect my belongings… I realise it’s wartime, and you have to adapt to everything,» Liudmyla said.

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by the Russians, spoke about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by Russian forces, spoke about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by the Russians, spoke about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by Russian forces, have spoken about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by Russian forces, have spoken about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by Russian forces, have spoken about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by Russian forces, have spoken about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Passengers on the ‘Kyiv–Mykolaiv’ train, which was hit by Russian forces, have spoken about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

Passengers on the Kyiv–Mykolaiv train, which was hit by the Russians, have spoken about the evacuation. Photo: NikVesti

It was previously reported that on 25 August, a drone struck a commuter train in the Mykolaiv region. Neither the passengers nor the train crew were injured.

Due to the security situation, from 26 August, the timetable for commuter trains on the «Mykolaiv-Vantazhnyi — Dolynska» section, which connects the Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad regions, was temporarily altered.

On 27 August, due to shelling across the country, a number of «Ukrzaliznytsia» passenger trains ran with significant delays. In particular, the «Odesa — Kyiv» train was more than 15 hours behind schedule, and passengers were evacuated from the train on six occasions.

On 6 September, the National Police published photographs from the scene of the attack by Russian forces on the «Mykolaiv — Kherson» passenger train in Chornobaivka, Kherson Oblast. The photographs show diesel locomotives damaged as a result of the strike.