When an "unprecedented" cyberattack hit the computer networks of Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) on March 23, the company's staff gave up any idea of getting a good night's sleep for the foreseeable future.
"Everyone is working around the clock. This is no joke," Anastasia Zolotaryova, Ukrzaliznytsia spokesperson told the Kyiv Independent on March 26, already spending her fourth day straight at Kyiv's main train station.
"Our IT workers have slept only two hours in the past day. They step out to rest when they have no strength left and then return to continue restoration efforts," she added.
What was initially described as a "technical failure" was on March 24 confirmed to be a "large-scale and sophisticated cyberattack" carried out by ‘the enemy,’" according to Ukrzaliznytsia.
The company's website and app crashed making online ticket purchases impossible, and leaving anyone with only digital copies of previously bought tickets in limbo.
For a country at war where commercial aviation is prohibited, disruption on such a vital travel network threatened country-wide chaos.
“The primary goal of the attackers, obviously, was to stop the rail from running," Oleksandr Shevchenko, deputy head of Ukrzaliznytsia, told the Kyiv Independent.
"Because the railway in Ukraine these days transports everything from the military and the wounded and to the evacuation of the civilians, and international diplomats as well."
It would take "89 hours of non-stop work" to get the computer systems back online, and even now the company's servers are struggling with demand. But if the hackers aim was to cripple Ukraine's railway network, it fell far short of success — over the past four days, 96% of Ukrainian railway trains still arrived on time.
That's not to say it had no effect — for those wanting to book tickets, or those trying to recover lost digital copies, it meant long waits in lines at train stations across the country.
At Kyiv's main railway station on March 26, 27 ticket offices were open, with special windows available for military personnel and people with disabilities.
Some ticket clerks had been working continuously for several days, spending nights at the station.
To cover staff shortages, workers were brought from less busy stations in cities like Bila Tserkva, 90 kilometers away.
Martin Fornusek
Yet such was demand that queues were still hours-long.
Tetiana Bairak, 51, a senior sergeant from the 99th Brigade, came to secure a ticket for her transfer to the long-awaited position in the 14th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Regiment.
"As a military person, I'm comfortable anywhere — in a dugout, in the field, in a tent. Standing in line and getting to my destination so that the war ends faster is no problem, we are patient," she told the Kyiv Independent.
"As a military person, I'm comfortable anywhere — in a dugout, in the field, in a tent. Standing in line and getting to my destination so that the war ends faster is no problem, we are patient."
Tetiana Bairak, 51, senior sergeant in line at ticket windows at the railway station in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 26, 2025 due to cyberattack on online service. (Anna Donets / The Kyiv Independent).
Others were less sanguine about their situation.
Alla Teslenko, 58, a retiree from Kyiv, had been waiting five hours to purchase a ticket so she could travel for medical treatment in Chernivtsi.
"I've been standing here half a day, and my husband doesn't even know I'm here because I left my phone at home," she said.
Ukrzaliznytsia tried to mitigate waiting times by offering free tea at the station, and passengers who purchased tickets during the cyberattack period were able to use the premium waiting rooms free of charge.
"I've been standing here half a day and my husband doesn't even know I'm here because I left my phone at home."
Alla Teslenko, 58, retiree in line at ticket windows at the railway station in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 26, 2025 due to cyberattack on online service. (Anna Donets / The Kyiv Independent).
Svitlana Timukh, an administrator at Ukrzaliznytsia's information bureau for 35 years, came to help at the Kyiv station.
Usually working at a desk, she now found herself in the main hall, answering passenger questions and guiding military personnel, passengers with children, and people with disabilities to the correct ticket counters.
Despite working from 8 a.m. and staying on shift until 8 a.m. the next day, she doesn't complain about the exhaustion.
"I draw energy from the passengers. When you help, passengers are grateful," she said.
She recalled helping an elderly couple returning home to Ternopil, a town in western Ukraine – the woman had undergone an operation at the Amosov Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery.
"She couldn't stand with her bag after the surgery, so I helped her find a place to sit. I guided her husband to the ticket counter so he could buy tickets. There are many complex situations," Timukh said.
Ukrzaliznytsia is well-versed in emergency situations — when Russia's full-scale invasion began, their trains became lifelines for millions of people fleeing the violence inflicted by Moscow's forces.
"Back then, our train crew conductors lived in trains for 30 days straight," Zolotaryova said.
More than 800 railway workers have been killed due to Russia's full-scale invasion.
Despite the war, the trains have never stopped running except to and from those cities Russia has occupied since February 2022.
A destination board in the train station's main hall listing all the routes Ukrzaliznytsia hopes to one day relaunch is a poignant reminder of what Ukraine has lost.
An air raid alert is announced in the station at 21:03, and people standing in line are asked to move to the shelter.
Once everyone is there, the staff get back to work and ticket sales continue in the underground passage.
Natalia Yermak
