Citing an anonymous source affiliated with the Moscow Rail Agency Russia’s Defense Ministry television channel Zvezda announced that Ukraine was ending train travel to the Russian Federation. In an open forum devoted to rail issues, this unnamed source says that Ukraine is cancelling all trains bound for Russia and directing more trains into EU countries.
REN TV, Channel 5, Polit.ru, Ura.ru and other Russian sites all featured this fake story.
Meanwhile Ukaine’s rail service Ukrzaliznytsia categorically dismisses this claim as a complete fake and says there are no plans to end train travel to Russia. The agency’s official site offers nine daily trains bound for Moscow, St. Petersburg and other Russian cities.
The daily train from Kyiv to Moscow sells out very quickly, it is not uncommon to book tickets well in advance. May’s tickets are all sold out; Ukrzaliznytsia’s booking site offers available tickets in June.
Ukraine is expanding its rail connection with EU countries. Ukrzaliznytsia director Wojciech Balczun said Kyiv is negotiating with Slovakia and Hungary about direct rail travel and expects EU rail traffic to increase once EU visa free travel for Ukrainians goes into effect on June 11.
