’20 Hours on Train, 4 Hours in Kyiv’: How Ukraine’s ‘Rail Force One’ Ferried Joe Biden Safely to Kyiv
Last Updated: February 24, 2023, 18:41 IST
US President Joe Biden walks along the train platform after a surprise visit to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kyiv on February 20, 2023. (AFP)
Before Biden’s visit to Kyiv, there were intense preparations, including coordination with Biden’s security teams, and it began only a few weeks before the visit
US President Joe Biden landed in Ukraine on a surprise visit this week as he walked alongside Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
Biden surprised the world, days before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion on Monday, making his first visit to the war-torn country to pledge new arms deliveries and reiterate Washington’s “unwavering” support.
The US President took a secret ride in Ukraine’s railway from Poland to reach Kyiv, according to a report in The Guardian.
Biden took a 10-hour night journey from Poland in a carriage now known as “Rail Force One”.
Alexander Kamyshin, the head of Ukraine’s railway company Ukrzaliznytsia, couldn’t get sleep on Sunday night, when Biden was to reach Ukraine.
The mission was kept secret and only few people, including Volodmyr Zelensky and Kamyshin, were aware of Biden’s vision.
“We have not had one leak. There have been no photographs from train attendants. We respect the confidence of the delegations,” Kamyshin reportedly said.
“It’s not a challenge. It’s our job that we do every day. Imagine the president of the United States coming to a war-torn country by train,” he added.
The report said that there were intense preparations, including coordination with Biden’s security teams and it began only in recent weeks.
“The challenge is treat the delegations properly because, like Biden, they spend more time on the train than they do in Kyiv. He spent 20 hours on the train and four hours in Kyiv. Everyone knows Ukrainians are brave. We also want them to know that we are welcoming,” he added.
“I don’t actually remember how we got from putin’s idea to “take Kyiv in 3 days” to President #Biden walking across #Kyiv together with my President #Zelenskyy on the 362nd day of the war,” Kamyshin said on Twitter.
Biden’s visit to Kyiv also underlined the importance of the railway network in Ukraine that, for a year, has largely only been accessible by rail or road.
Journalists, aid workers, diplomats and world leaders, who come to Ukraine, come via the same route, taking slow night trains that travel between Poland and Kyiv.
It has also been used to evacuate people from the war-torn country. Over 4 million people were evacuated by train, which included 1 million children.
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