How our Children’s Cars program is making train travel more comfortable for Ukraine’s youngest passengers.

Picture a train car late at night: windows blacked out, lights off, engines hushed, amid relentless shelling in the distance. In the dark, a child grips a parent’s hand, trying to make sense of a trip no kid should have to take. It’s meant to be a journey toward safety. But for Ukraine’s littlest riders, it doesn’t always feel that way.

The truth is, it’s only gotten harder to feel safe. According to US News & World Report, attacks on Ukraine’s railway climbed sharply in 2025, more than doubling to two or three strikes a week (and by some official counts, closer to ten), as Russia’s drones have grown more precise and harder to evade. Yet with skies closed to passenger flights since 2022, trains remain a lifeline for families. Whether evacuating, reuniting with a dad on leave, or just taking a family trip, every journey carries a little more uncertainty than it used to.

Now Nova Ukraine is making those train rides less stressful for kids and their parents.

Meet Children’s Cars

We partnered with Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukraine’s national railway) and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to equip Children’s Cars: dedicated train compartments, specially designed and outfitted for the comfort and safety of kids ages 0 to 8. It’s our Empower pillar in action—helping families stay resilient, confident, and connected during wartime. And making sure that kids have room to be kids.

What’s On Board

Step inside a Children’s Car and the shift is immediate. Playpens, bottle warmers, small steps sized for small legs, toilet seat covers, children’s cribs: parents can stop scrambling to cover the basics and actually settle into the trip with their little ones.

In addition to safety items—from thousands of reflective wristbands to rain ponchos to thermoses—Nova Ukraine has helped stock Children’s Cars with everything families need to feel human again on a hard trip: cozy bedding in playful animal prints, squishy anti-stress toys, busy boards and logic games to help the miles pass more gently.

We even supplied 10,000 ‘Traveler’s Passports’—a stamp-collecting passport, with digital rewards tracked in a companion app. One dad, watching his kids beg for a Traveler’s Passport, later learned the stamps inside are worth “5,000 hugs.” He didn’t wait for the app. He just gave them the real thing, right there on the platform.

The Comfort Adds up

We’re grateful to be able to improve train travel for so many kids. As of August, 2026, per Ukrzaliznytsia and Nova Ukraine program data:

•    323,000+ young passengers have ridden in comfort, including 4,000 who traveled in designated Children’s Cars with their families

•    8,422 kids rode in a Children’s Car in just the past six months

•    121 trains across Ukraine are now equipped with Children’s Cars

•    5 Ukrainian railway branches now participate in the program, including the newest branch at Rivne

Part of a Bigger Promise

Our Children’s Cars initiative is  part of our Iron Youth program, which also supports families by providing defibrillators to railway stations across Ukraine, to make emergency first aid accessible.

Children are the future of Ukraine. Through programs like Children’s Cars, we aim to ensure that every journey empowers them. As Nova Ukraine’s CEO, Erin McKee says, “We don’t want to let this war steal their childhood.”