Another Journey By Ukrainian Railways From Poland To Kyiv. A Cold, Gray Landscape Conveys Death. For Travelers, There Are Destinations For Some And Destinies For Others.
The Ukrainian Railways electrified train Number 706 departs Przemysl-Glowny in Poland precisely as scheduled at 9:45 am with a scheduled arrival to Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi in Ukraine at 8:16 pm.
As the train rumbles from east to west from Poland to within the territory of Ukraine, the onset of winter becomes noticeable by the increasing accumulation of snow upon the landscape.
Trees which weeks ago showed life now are absent foliage, their clothing, which conveyed life. They now stand naked though their roots hold firm. The grayish tone of their skins conveys a constant shadow.
What begins as white specks dotting the pastures, backyard gardens, and fields plowed under awaiting the next harvests become sustained patches of snow, then piles of snow haphazardly placed by gravity and wind. Eventually, a carpet of white- eerily peaceful. Where mounds of dirt on farmland undulate from row-to-row and column-to-column, snow fills the gaps. As if the crop was snow.
Citizens are indoors, unless they need to travel- or walk a pet, permit livestock to consume a bit of snow, go shopping, gather firewood or coal for heat.
The carriages of the inbound train are sparsely filled primarily with women, some with children. Most passengers have one piece of medium-sized wheeled luggage and a carry-on or two. Nowhere near overflowing outbound trains of February 2022 through April 2022 when passengers were packing for a journey whose destination they may not have known and whose duration they knew they did not know.
The sky has remained as a layer- gray. A soft blanket under which life continues. There is no typical sunset. City, town, village lights flicker. Where there is smoke, it is white. All resembles death. Or, dying.
Fog descends. Visibility lessens. Like a curtain that is getting closer. Focus now upon the increasing mounds of snow and telephone poles and electrical lines. Soon, there will only be the interior of the train which provides light along the tracks and beyond, as near as beyond has become. Eventually, looking out the window provides only reflection from within.
The warmth, illumination, comfort of the carriage is so very distant from the conflict, the war, which permeates Ukraine like a pandemic. Today marks 288 days since the armed forces of the Russian Federation invaded and invaded further into the territory of Ukraine.
The carriage is quiet but for the gentleman and his cart serving snacks and tea and the woman in a crisp uniform who is gathering what passengers want to discard.
Train Number 706 does not arrive as scheduled at 8:14 pm. Passengers begin to disembark at 8:03 pm.
Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi station is bustling. Passengers arriving and departing. Members of the armed forces of Ukraine- men and women in their uniforms departing, arriving, transferring. They may know their destinations. They will not know their destinies.
Civilians arriving to Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi will go to their homes, or to those of family and friends. Members of the armed forces of Ukraine will be defending everyone.
