A midnight train ride through Ukraine in March 2022 offered a chilling snapshot of wartime realities, as witnessed by Chinese student Li Tongle. After fleeing Kharkiv, Li documented an eerily vacant Kyiv following mass evacuations – its iconic streets stripped of their usual buzz and bathed in uneasy stillness.
'It felt like a scene from a dystopian film,' Li recalled. 'No crowds, no lights… just silence.'
His footage also captured a stark contrast: armored vehicles rumbling toward Kharkiv on parallel tracks, underscoring the region’s escalating tensions. The trains crossing paths – one carrying civilians to safety, another transporting military hardware – became a haunting metaphor for Ukraine’s divided reality.
Li’s journey highlights youth perspectives in global conflicts, blending personal storytelling with geopolitical urgency. As students and professionals worldwide track these developments, firsthand accounts like his offer raw insights beyond traditional headlines.
Reference(s):
Stringer Dispatch: Empty Kyiv, armored vehicles sent to Kharkiv
cgtn.com