An attempt to illegally transport goods by railway employees led to serious consequences for passengers traveling from Ukraine to Poland. Due to a train delay, dozens of people were forced to spend the night in the open air in the Polish border town of Chelm in sub-zero temperatures..

The incident was reported by a former employee of Ukrzaliznytsia, and now a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Rudomanov, referring to messages from passengers on social networks. According to one of the passengers, the incident occurred on January 10, 2026 with train No. 119 on the route Dnepr - Chelm.

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During border control, Polish customs officers stopped the train due to the discovery of a smuggled shipment of tobacco products - approximately 150 cartons of cigarettes - from members of the train crew.. Registration of the violation and inspections lasted about three hours, which led to a significant disruption to the schedule.

As a result, passengers missed the last evening train to Warsaw, which departs at 18:28. The next message was possible only in the morning - at 5:00.

The situation was complicated by both weather conditions and the lack of proper infrastructure: in Chelm there is no full-fledged station waiting room, and the air temperature at night dropped to -11 degrees.

According to eyewitnesses, no explanations or assistance were provided to passengers.

“They don’t actually communicate with people—it’s unclear who is responsible and what to do next,” notes the author of the message.

As of now, Ukrzaliznytsia has not officially commented on the event and has not reported whether it is planned to organize a transfer or temporary accommodation for passengers who find themselves in a difficult situation due to the actions of the train staff.

As reported, due to complicated weather conditions and the situation with blackouts, Ukrzaliznytsia deployed indestructible cars in several cities of the Kyiv region.