This photobook looks at the railway not from the window of a train, but from the outside — often from a distance — to show how deeply the tracks are woven into Ukraine’s landscapes: from industrial hubs to mountain passes.
Passenger travel, freight logistics, industrial power, tourist attraction — the railway has always stitched together Ukraine’s regions, connected people, and made journeys possible.
About the Book
Railways in Ukraine brings together a collection of large-format photographs by Mykola Oleksiienko — a photographer, railway enthusiast, trainspotter, and now a serviceman in Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Over years of travel, he captured unique perspectives of Ukrainian trains and tracks rarely available to ordinary passengers. His photographs not only highlight the railway as part of Ukraine’s geography and culture but also invite reflection on its role in shaping the historical and industrial identity of regions — many of which are now destroyed or occupied by Russia.
Mykola Oleksiienko
Ukrainian traveler, photographer, and serviceman. Born in 1989 in the Donetsk region, Mykola focuses on industrial sites, man-made landscapes, railways, and Soviet architectural heritage. He seeks to draw attention to little-studied aspects of Ukraine’s culture and environment.
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“This book will resonate with anyone who has even the smallest spark of love for trains — and there are many of us. I see myself as a traveler first, but the railway is a special passion. Each photo is more than just a picture; I want it to move the viewer, to bring attention to a region, a landscape, or a piece of our everyday life. The railway lets us see so many things in context: for example, the Carpathian lines are a phenomenon of their own, while the line serving Chornobyl was unique, with special commuter trains carrying workers to the plant. Each of these is a story, and through the lens of the railway, perhaps you’ll discover something new in even familiar landscapes.”.
— Mykola Oleksiienko
author of Railways in Ukraine
Details
Railways in Ukraine is a bilingual photobook, with captions in Ukrainian and English. It is first and foremost a visual edition — an exploration of the railway as part of Ukraine’s landscapes and how it shapes them. Spanning over a decade of travel, the collection reveals Ukraine’s railways across its most diverse and striking regions.
- Title: Railways in Ukraine
- Languages: Ukrainian & English (bilingual captions)
- Format: Visual edition, photographs collected since 2010, covering diverse regions
- Year: 2025
- Pages: 160
- Weight: 1,800 g
- Size: 265 × 305 × 20 mm
- ISBN: 978-617-8216-11-5
Team
- Chief Editor at Ukraїner Publishing — Yevheniia Sapozhnykova
- Managing Editor — Anastasiia Osypenko
- Photo Editor — Anna Nakonechna
- Layout Designer — Nataliia Koval
- Cover & Interior Designer — Anna Havryliuk
