Russia is targeting train drivers as part of an increasingly intensive campaign on Ukraine’s railway system, according to one of Kyiv’s senior ministers. Ukraine’s rail network, which spreads some 13,000 miles, has become an important symbol of resilience during the war despite repeated attacks throughout the conflict.

Oleksii Kuleba, one of Ukraine’s deputy prime ministers who has responsibility for infrastructure, said since the start of this year, assaults on the network have inflicted £760 million worth of damage. He said during this period there have been 800 attacks, with more than 3,000 railway objects damaged. In a worrying sign of the intentions of Vladimir Putin’s forces, he added the attacks have “increased three times over” in the last three months, with the Russian strikes becoming more targeted.

Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “What we have seen in these escalating attacks is that they are going after trains, especially trying to kill the drivers.”

Ukraine’s railway system is an important part of the country’s war effort, both in terms of military logistics and the transportation of goods and people.

Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, chief of Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s state railway, also told The Guardian that Russia’s “very precise” Iranian-designed Shahed drones are being used to target “individual locomotives”.

Russia has consistently struck key infrastructure during the war as part of efforts to disrupt military supply routes but mainly cripple Ukrainian morale.

Moscow has also increasingly targeted electricity facilities across the country in recent weeks as many in Ukraine brace for a bitter winter.

Ukraine too has upped attacks on Russian infrastructure, striking oil refineries.

The surge has had a devastating effect, sparking fuel shortages and prices to rockets in some areas.

A Ukrainian deputy minister last month told the BBC that half of Russia’s attacks on railways during the war had happened over the past two months.

Ukraine has taken steps to better protect the network, including fitting trains with anti-drone electronic systems.