Zelenskyy and von der Leyen thank Ukrainian railway workers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, have participated in the celebrations to mark Railway Workers’ Day in Kyiv.

Source: Ukrinform

Details: Zelenskyy recalled that Ukrainian railway workers had helped evacuate four million people from the war zone.

Quote: "Our railway, all of you, have been able to transport more than 120 million tonnes of cargo since the beginning of this year, in particular, globally important cargo such as food. And I am grateful to every country and the European Union for supporting railways," Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian railway workers have been able to build new vital routes which Ukraine had needed for decades since the beginning of the full-scale war.

"And these are routes with Poland, Romania, and Moldova. Ukrainian railway workers are adding internal integration and internal connections to Europe," the president said.

He emphasised that "our railway is much more than just transport".

"This is a guarantee that our people, our Ukrainian economy, and our state will not be separated from the European countries that help us. Our railway is a guarantee that the regions of Ukraine, our cities, our villages in different parts of our country, even under fire from Russian terrorists, are united into one living space with the necessary values, with the necessary goods," Zelenskyy emphasised.

He noted that the Russian-Ukrainian war had claimed the lives of 530 Ukrainian railway workers. Those present honoured their memory with a minute of silence.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, emphasised that Ukraine could be proud of its railway workers.

She said that they had been working non-stop under such difficult conditions since the very beginning of the Russian war against Ukraine, helping their compatriots to find asylum in the European Union and to return home again. They have also been transporting grain and vital products from Ukraine to the whole world. Von der Leyen also praised them for connecting their country and the Ukrainian people, and for maintaining a lifeline, to which she could bear witness because she had been coming to Kyiv by train six times now, and could say that this train has become a legend.

Zelenskyy and von der Leyen thanked the Ukrainian railway workers for their work. The President awarded them with state awards.

Ukraine celebrates Railway Workers’ Day on 4 November.

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