Ukraine’s state railway restores online ticket sales after major cyberattack

Ukraine’s state railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, has resumed online ticket sales after a cyberattack brought down its systems earlier in the week. 

The attack — described as “systematic, complex, and multi-layered” — disrupted Ukrzaliznytsia’s online services, including those used for ticket purchases, but did not affect train schedules. Following the incident on Monday, the company doubled the number of ticket windows and staff at several stations across Ukraine to accommodate passengers.

The railway’s mobile app and website were back online “after 89 hours of nonstop work,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Over 12,000 passengers were able to buy tickets online when the online services were restored. The railway’s app is functioning, though it is experiencing disruptions due to high demand, the company said. Passengers with paper tickets purchased during the cyberattack will be offered free tea onboard, and paid waiting rooms will be made available for them.

Ukrzaliznytsia hasn’t revealed any technical details about the incident or the hacker group behind it, as the investigation is still ongoing. Among those who assisted the railway in recovering from the attack are Ukraine’s largest telecom operator, Kyivstar, and the Ministry of Justice — both of which were targets of recent large-scale attacks suspected to have been carried out by Russian state hackers.

According to the railway’s head, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, there has been no breach of sensitive information during the attack.

The disruptions mostly affected Ukrzaliznytsia's passengers and business clients. All automated processes for freight transportation were switched to paper formats, making the processing of shipping documents more time-consuming and requiring more personnel, the company said.

Ukrzaliznytsia has been a lifeline for millions of Ukrainians since Russia invaded the country. With all Ukrainian airports shut down and air traffic suspended, the railway became one of the most popular means of transport for both domestic and international travel.

It is also used to evacuate injured civilians and soldiers, deliver humanitarian aid, food and medical supplies to war-affected regions, as well as export grain, metals and other goods to Europe.

In 2024, Ukrzaliznytsia transported 23.3 million passengers, with 86% of tickets purchased online, according to a company report.

In addition to digital attacks, Ukrzaliznytsia’s infrastructure is frequently targeted by Russian drones and missiles.

On Thursday, a Russian missile struck the train station and surrounding infrastructure in the Ukrainian city of Kherson. Despite the attack and the damage caused to the carriages and station, the train departed with only a half-hour delay.

“Despite ongoing attacks on our infrastructure — both offline and online — the railway continues to operate and is growing stronger,” Ukrzaliznytsia said.