Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) has teamed up with the American billionaire Howard Buffett’s foundation to create an art train, which launched earlier this month—billed as the first of its kind in the world.
Three train cars that have been turned into a gallery are travelling across Ukraine carrying an exhibition of Buffett’s photographs titled Courage of a Nation, which explores the country’s resilience following the 2022 full-scale invasion by Russia. The show was curated by the double Pulitzer Prize-winning National Geographic photographer Muhammed Muheisen.
The photographs on display were taken during Buffett’s 19 trips to Ukraine between April 2022 and February 2025. According to a dedicated website for the exhibition, Buffett’s exhibition are photos of war, but also “photos of hope, courage, and resilience”.
An installation view of the Courage of a Nation exhibition
Courtesy of Ukrainian Railways (via X)
The site offers visitors the chance to register in advance to see the exhibition. Although it shows the outlines of a route crisscrossing the country, the exact timetable is not announced in advance due to security risks. It is scheduled to make 63 stops over four months. The tour began in Odesa, which has been hit multiple times in recent weeks, with casualties. Russia has intensified its air assaults on Ukraine, with nightly drone attacks. The website warns potential visitors that “depending on the security situation, the train’s route and exhibition schedule may be subject to change.”
The images can also be seen in a video produced by the foundation and via the project's Instagram account. Courage of a Nation has also been published as a book—with a forward by the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska—that can be viewed online .
The Howard G. Buffett Foundation has supported Ukraine with around $800 million in aid since 2022, funding programmes related to issues such as demining and agricultural development. Buffett told The Associated Press in April that the amount of aid the foundation provides to Ukraine will surpass $1 billion in 2025.
Earlier in the war, the foundation worked with Ukrzaliznytsia to create a food train, which over one year cooked one million meals in some of Ukraine’s hardest hit locations, including Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. The foundation has previously worked in other war-torn countries, including Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Buffett, who is the son of Warren Buffett, one of the world’s most successful investors, is a Republican who has served as a country sheriff in the US state of Illinois where he lives. During a visit to Ukraine in April, he said that Trump’s failure thus far to broker a peace deal would not affect the foundation’s support for Ukraine. “It doesn’t change anything we do,” he told The Associated Press. “We’re on track.”
Tapestry of Life, a book of Buffett’s photographs from around the world, was published in 2002.
