Russian drones are stalking Ukrainian trains and trying to hobble the country's rail system

When railworkers aboard a train travelling between the Ukrainian cities of Odesa and Dnipro began shouting at passengers to evacuate the carriages early Thursday, Anastasia Rybalchenko's mind immediately began racing through worst-case scenarios.

It was 4 a.m., an air-raid alert was in effect, and Russian drones had already struck a number of Ukrainian trains that week, including one just a few kilometres from the Polish border.

Rybalchenko, 17, and other sleepy passengers exited the train and trudged through the grass in a rural area that was about a 15-minute ride from her final destination, Kropyvnytskyi. When she was about 200 to 300 metres from the tracks, she put down a blanket and sat on the ground.

Rybalchenko drifted in and out of sleep while waiting for the all-clear to return to the train. But about two hours later, she was abruptly jolted awake by the sound of something whooshing overhead, followed by a series of explosions.

"We started running into the bushes and hiding," she said in a phone interview with CBC News from her home in Kropyvnytskyi.

"My heart was pounding like crazy. I didn't understand what was happening or what to do."

She quickly learned that it wasn't her train that was on fire, but infrastructure along the railway line.

In recent weeks, Russia has stepped up strikes on Ukraine's rail network, targeting trains and the approximately 20,000 kilometres of track that form a key transportation artery across the country.

With Ukrainian airspace closed, the rail network carries passengers across the country, and in some cases, across the border into Poland. With shipping in the Black Sea under constant threat, the rail network is also a key corridor for supplies and goods, including grain and aid.

Ukraine has been trying to bring the war to Russia. More Russians are beginning to feel it

Earlier in the war, Ukrainian Railways frequently highlighted its ability to keep most trains running on schedule despite Russia's full-scale invasion. Now, the network is facing multi-hour delays, while new rules approved by the government Thursday prohibit passengers from boarding or disembarking during a red alert, which indicates a threat of a missile attack.

Russia's Foreign Ministry insists that railway hubs serving Ukraine's military are legitimate targets, while other Russian officials specifically claim that the attacks are on infrastructure related to the shipment of military cargo from Europe.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the deadly attacks are part of the Kremlin's strategy to destroy the country's economy and disrupt daily life.

This year, two dozen railway workers have been killed and more than 80 injured.