A train operator found a body on the platform — not in a field, not on the tracks, but directly at the station in the village of Mala Aleksandrivka in the Boryspil district. A 14-year-old boy was train surfing: clinging to external parts of train cars or riding on roofs. The Kyiv region police launched a pre-trial investigation into the accident.
Fines Were Issued. Death Came Too
A key detail that police included in their statement: the teenager's parents had already been issued administrative materials under Article 184 of the Code of Administrative Offenses — failure to fulfill parental responsibilities. In other words, the state knew about the risk, documented it officially — and exhausted its toolkit.
"Preliminary reports indicate that the teenager had previously engaged in train surfing multiple times, and administrative materials were filed against his parents. Unfortunately, this form of entertainment increasingly costs children the most valuable thing — their lives".
Kyiv Region Police
This is where the real problem lies — not in another tragedy, but in the logic of the system. An administrative fine for parents is the final step of response, not the beginning of work with the child.
Three Deaths in a Few Weeks
The death in Mala Aleksandrivka is not an isolated case in spring 2025. On March 13, a 12-year-old boy was struck by an electric current on the roof of an electric train at Kyiv-Volyn station — and died in the hospital on March 18. On March 29, three teenagers in Solomianski district in Kyiv climbed onto a train car: one died on the spot, two were hospitalized with severe burns. According to the Ministry of Education, Ukrzaliznytsia, and the Center for Strategic Communications, only since the beginning of this year, three children have died from train surfing, and nine more have suffered severe injuries.
In 2024, nine children died on the railway, 28 were injured — and the trend has not changed.
Why Teenagers Continue
Train surfing is not just fooling around. Teenagers film videos for social media: risk converts into views and followers. Kyiv region police have recorded 12 cases of train surfing since the beginning of 2025 in the region; seven parents have been held administratively liable. None of these numbers indicate a turning point.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs reminds: train surfing is an administrative offense; if damage to rolling stock or an emergency situation occurs, criminal liability is possible. But criminal charges come only after something happens.
What's Next
At minimum, three departments — the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Ukrzaliznytsia — coordinate preventive campaigns. They exist alongside growing statistics. If after the tragedies of March-April 2025 the system does not acquire an early intervention tool — not a fine for parents after discovering the fact, but work with the teenager before — the next obituary in the police Telegram channel will be written using the same template.
The question is not whether parents know about the dangers of train surfing after being fined. The question is whether the state has even one tool that actually changes a teenager's behavior — and if so, why it didn't work in Mala Aleksandrivka.
```
