Even as Russia continues its bombing of Kyiv, prime ministers of three countries entered the Ukainianian capital, met President Volodymyr Zelensky and left for their countries safely. This happened despite Russia's massive shelling and airstrikes.
On Tuesday, the Polish, Czech, and Slovenian Prime Ministers were in Kyiv and held a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, a bold move which experts said was aimed to support Ukraine and show Moscow that Kyiv is not left alone in this war.
How did they enter inside the Ukrainian territory and even capital which is facing massive airstrikes and shelling in recent days?
Safe Travel - Ukraine's Railways
The prime ministers of foreign countries used Ukraine's railway network to enter the country, although it is not immune to the Russian airstrikes and bombings.
"That was really important for us, even if it was naïve," Oleksandr Kamyshin, the national rail system's top executive, told CNN terming the move naive as EU leaders had announced their travel plans while they were still en route to the capital.
Secrecy Revealed
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on social media that he, along with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, were heading toward Kyiv.
The railway network's top official thought they had to keep their visit as secret but the leaders revealed their plans early. "I was keeping their secret, but when I saw something was published online, it surprised me. I didn't understand that," said Kamyshin.
It was the plan of EU leaders to opt to train as a medium to visit Kyiv at the time of massive shelling as it is currently believed to be the the safest medium of travel.
Kamyshin had agreed to the train visit plans despite knowing possible threats as a train station in Zaporizhzhia was hit by a Russian bomb soon after EU leaders completed their visit.
Railway's top officer believes that choosing train travel was a smart move by the EU leaders as stations and trains are the safest places in the country currently when Russian bombs are raining everywhere.
Train officials were worried about the security of the EU leaders during their visit. Since the start of the invasion, the officials have been figuring out ways to ramp up the railway's security as they believe Ukraine's 1,450 railway stations could be on the list of Russia's targets as Moscow has been involved in destructing Ukraine's infrastructures.
Special Train
Ukraine's newest sleeper cars facilitated the EU leaders' travel to Kyiv and other passengers on the train were only the security officers.
The EU delegation travelled on a special train with four of the railway's newest sleeper cars. "It was a regular, normal train, with normal rail cars. So [the delegation's route] was not more special than the others. It was the same track that normal passengers take as well," he told CNN.
The EU leaders were on the train for nearly nine hours and afterward, they met Zelensky and his team. Later, they took a train to Poland that night.
