The War Between Russia and Ukraine: Live Updates – The New York Times

The first train to the Ukrainian city of Kherson from the capital, Kyiv, since before the Russian invasion, took off on its 11-hour journey Friday night, a step in reconnecting the vital southern city after a week of Ukrainian forces. Take control again from the Russian occupation.

Train 102, which is scheduled to arrive in Kherson at 9 a.m. Saturday, carries 200 passengers and will be the start of regular service between the two cities, said Kirilo Tymoshenko, a senior official in the president’s office, he wrote in a Telegram post.

Videos posted by Ukrainian officials on social media showed the train leaving to cheers and applause from passengers on the platform as rock music blared over the speakers.

“This is our Victory Train!” Mr. Tymoshenko wrote. “Like this train, we will return to Kherson everything for a normal life!”

Kherson was The first major city to be captured by Moscow’s forces after the February invasion and remained under Russian control until November 11, when Ukrainian forces entered the city amid jubilant cheers from the population. Russia’s withdrawal from the city across the Dnipro River, and the withdrawal from the only regional capital in its grip, was a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his war.

In the months of occupation, the city’s population was subjected to the Russian assimilation campaign and the suppression of Ukrainian identity. Accounts of harsh interrogations, torture, and abuse at the hands of Russian soldiers appeared In the days following Russia’s withdrawal.

Electricity and water were restored to the train station in Kherson before the train arrived. to me Sarhi Khalan, formerly exiled vice-governor of the Kherson region. Officials said that the train will go from Kyiv to Kherson on even dates, and from Kherson to Kyiv on odd dates.

Train service too It resumed a few days ago From Kyiv to Mykolaiv, a ruined Black Sea port city near Kherson. Railroad officials said at the time that reconnecting the link with Kherson was a challenge because retreating Russian forces had massively mined the tracks, setting off explosions that injured at least nine rail workers in recent days.

Two days after Kherson was recaptured, before the route was secured, Ukraine’s national railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, began selling tickets to the city for use once travel resumed. them too Put up for sale Aspirational tickets to destinations still under Russian occupation – Mariupol in the southeast, Donetsk and Luhansk in the east and Simferopol in Crimea – with proceeds used for transport infrastructure projects.

Oleksandr Kamyshin, CEO of Ukrzaliznytsia, wrote on Twitter That the resumption of the railways was important because the roads, which had become muddy and impassable due to snow and rain, hampered efforts to deliver the necessary aid to the people of Kherson.