Kharkiv railroads from the evacuation flight: "The locomotive hit the rocket's fragment, but we moved on"

This time we will move to Kharkiv region and give the word to the railways: the head of the escape flight Konstantin Guzeev and the leader Olesya Leontiev, who from the first days of the war were removed from temporarily occupied territories from the first days of the war. Video Day Series of Materials is dedicated to the project for victory from the communication agency Gres Toodorchuk and Ukrzaliznytsia.

On seven cars on the routes of Kyiv-Uzhgorod and Zaporizhzhia-Lviv are placed QR codes, which can be screamed and read on the site of the project with the stories of Ukrainians, who heroically resist the Russians in temporarily occupied territories. The stories are supplemented by the author's illustrations on the wagons based on each of the occupied regions created by Ukrainian artists for the curated Katie Taylor.

"Other dangers are frightening, and I add strength" Konstantin Guzeev has been working on a railway from nineteen years. As part of different routes, he traveled almost not all Ukraine, so he knows what passengers live at stations from Lviv to Kharkiv. Last year, I had ended the contract. I do not know if I would return to this job if it were not for war.

In the first days of the Russian invasion, he saw on the Internet an announcement that Ukrzaliznytsia was looking for volunteers for evacuation flights, and realized that I could not but respond to him at that time. At the beginning of March, Constantine was appointed Chief of the Evacuation train of Kharkiv - Chernivtsi. The man will never forget the worried passengers from temporarily occupied cities and villages of Kharkiv region, which were forced to leave their homes.

Helping them sit on the train, he tried to keep peace. I am used to non -standard situations. When people panic, I, on the contrary, mobilize. Collecting a flight team, Konstantin first addressed Olesya Leontiev's leader. With her, he worked on joint routes for one year: Olesya and I understand each other from half a word. I think such coordination is especially important in extreme conditions. So we work. I am responsible for the train route, and it monitors the safety in the wagons.

"Before arriving, the passengers did not say goodbye, but exchanged contacts" in the first days of the war, Oles Leontiev worked as a leader at evacuation flights from Zaporozhye. And on February 27 she returned to the Kharkiv route. When we pulled up to the Kharkiv platform, I saw Russian fighters right above the station. Everyone engulfed fear. Men escorted women and children, they wept. People were pushing to get to the wagons faster. Of course, I was also worried.

But at such moments I have no right to emotion. If the passengers will notice them, then they will be worried even more. So she gathered with thoughts and took up work. Helped with planting, reassured. Departure from Kharkiv was difficult. The wagons shuddered from the explosions that were heard nearby. At such moments, Olesya, together with his passengers, lay on the floor and asked to wait until everything subsided.

Moments seemed eternity: we did not have time to leave Kharkiv, as a fragment of a Russian rocket got into the locomotive. The train stopped. I knew what happened but couldn't tell passengers. She said all is well and that we would soon go. So it happened. Thanks to the professionalism of the colleagues-railroads, the new locomotive arrived in us in half an hour, and we moved forward. But as far as the war zone, the wagons came to life.

They were filled with conversations, singing of Ukrainian songs under the guitar. And smiles returned to the face of passengers. Before leaving the train, people did not say goodbye, but exchanged contacts to communicate further. The truth is that the trouble unites. "They did as they had to because they could not otherwise" in a row, Konstantin and Olesya worked on escape flights without weekends. It was difficult, often dangerous.

But whatever happens, the train chief and the conductor did not allow emotions to take possession of themselves. They continued to do their business, which seemed to be everyday life until February 24, and then became a real heroism. I remembered a 90-year-old grandmother, who was evacuated from Kharkiv after a stroke with her daughter. On the way, she constantly repeated one phrase: "There would be no war. " It turned out that in the 1940s this grandmother survived the Nazi occupation.

She could not imagine that the war would enter her life again. In one of the flights, we evacuated children with disabilities. The children had to be brought into the wagons and taken back after arriving. Their caregivers still write a message to me with the words of gratitude. Pleasantly! But there is nothing extraordinary about it. I did the way I had to because I couldn't otherwise. At home on Olesya and Constantine, families are waiting.

It seems that loved ones are worried about railways more than they are for themselves. But they are choosing to save Ukrainians, risking their lives, are understanding. My husband works on the mail. Carry orders and humanitarian aid under balls. His work is not much different from mine. Therefore, we understand and support each other. My father is 63 years old. He worked as a railway all his life, at one time he also traveled at evacuation trains.

Therefore, he did not have any questions for my decision. I have been accustomed to taking responsibility since childhood. When someone wanted to impose me something, I answered proudly: I don't need it! "Train is the most reliable transport during the war" Konstantin Guzeev and Oles Leontiev continue to work together. They recently switched to the flight to Odessa. Passengers have already been accustomed to military realities and are much calmer to the events that were shocked in February.