Tears, smiles and the occasional artillery explosion on Saturday greeted passengers as the first train in eight months pulled into the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson from Kyiv and families divided by war were reunited.
"I promised I would come back. It happened so I kept my promise," said Anastasia Shevlyuga, 30, moments after stepping off the train and meeting her mother.Svytlana Dosenko fought back tears as she waited for her only son who she last saw before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.The past months have been wracked with grief, humiliation and fear since Russians forces fanned out from the Crimean peninsula and occupied large swathes of Ukraine's Black Sea coast, including Kherson.
In the months that followed, she lived under Russian occupying forces, who frequently searched apartments and set up checkpoints throughout the city."It was very messy and very hard. My place was searched by Russian soldiers. They broke in, looking for weapons," Dosenko explained."I just want to see him and tell him I love him," she added.
"It's emotional. After hearing about the liberation of Kherson we got the orders to repair the 58 different damaged areas on the line," said Denys Rustyk, 31, a rail worker from the nearby city of Odessa.Trains have long formed the industrial and economic backbone of Ukraine and since the onset of the war have provided a vital lifeline, moving millions fleeing conflict while also supplying fighters on the front line.
When retreating Russians left the city without power and water supplies as the harsh winter weather sets inAs Russians retreated over a week ago, they destroyed critical infrastructure, leaving Kherson without power and water supplies as the harsh winter weather sets in.
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