By mid-November, the route from Kyiv to Kramatorsk had turned into a chain of transfers: because of shelling damage, the InterCity train ran only as far as Poltava-Pivdenna, then passengers were taken by diesel train to Barvinkove and from there by buses and taxis. The restrictions followed attacks on the railway and the region’s power infrastructure.
Russian strikes on the Mykolaiv thermal power plant, the area’s main and effectively only major power source, left Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk without electricity. When outages last for many hours, mobile service and internet fail, and heating stops in apartment blocks. After a drone attack on the Lviv-Kramatorsk train on October 24, 2025, rail service to the city was gradually reduced.
According to the correspondent, the roads and towns now clearly show the consequences of attempts to break the region’s logistics: some routes are under enemy FPV drone control, homes and factories have been damaged, and even fire engines have been hit. Bus drivers are afraid to stay on their routes, while some settlements have gone without electricity for more than a week.
Even so, people continue traveling into the region. The train to Kramatorsk had long been known as a “train of love,” carrying women on short visits to husbands and partners serving at the front. Even now, passengers arriving in Barvinkove are met with flowers, and local businesses in frontline towns still depend partly on such trips.
Residents and medical workers say they are waiting for possible decisions on mandatory evacuation of families with children, yet many still do not want to leave. Soldiers, rescue workers and civilians continue working in conditions where drones already reach rear streets and strikes on nearby towns have become part of daily life.
Despite the destruction, Kramatorsk is still functioning: utility crews clear debris after attacks, young people gather on Peace Square, and buses still depart for nearby towns. Against that backdrop, the region’s prevailing mood is clear: exhaustion, grim resolve and a refusal to abandon home even as the war moves closer.