Russian Bombing of Ukrainian Railway Network: Latest Updates and Impact

2024-04-26 12:32:39

Russia is bombing the Ukrainian railway network to “paralyze” military supplies including Western aid, with Moscow preparing a new major offensive to try to expand the area under its control, a senior Ukrainian security official said on Friday, following a series of strikes on the railways of Ukraine.

The railway infrastructure is particularly vital in Ukraine, both for passenger transport, commerce and the army, because since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, all air traffic there has been at a standstill.

The Russian army claimed on Friday to have struck a train in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk (east) transporting Western weapons delivered to kyiv, an announcement coming following a series of strikes on Ukrainian railways. “A train with Western weapons and military equipment was hit near the town of Udachne,” said the Russian Defense Ministry, without further details on the result of this strike.

The moment of destruction of a train carrying military equipment of #NATO elements at Sinelnikovo railway station in Dnepropetrovsk region. The Russian military launched regular, detailed and all-out attacks on weapons and equipment transport hubs across the #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/p0q5EGQcx7

— Geopolitical Fact (@lyslmny317438) April 25, 2024

Rail logistics

An announcement confirmed by Ukrainian military officials. “These are classic measures before an offensive,” this highly placed source said on condition of anonymity. The goal “is to paralyze deliveries, the transport of military cargo,” she added.

Western armaments given to Ukraine, in particular ammunition for artillery and defense, are delivered in the greatest secrecy from neighboring countries, in particular Poland. The head of passenger transport of Ukrzaliznytsia, Oleksandr Pertsovsky said on Thursday that he had noticed “an increase in attacks on railway infrastructure”.

“We see that the strikes target railway logistics, and mainly affect civilian sites,” he said. “They carry out indiscriminate strikes on train stations, it’s a very primitive way of doing things.”

Target

The railway network has been regularly targeted by Russian bombings over the past two years. Strikes notably targeted stations like that of Kramatorsk, in the Eastwhere dozens of people, mainly civilians trying to flee the fighting, were killed in April 2022.

But in recent weeks, an increase in bombings targeting railway infrastructure has been noted. On Thursday alone, strikes hit railway infrastructure in three Ukrainian regions. In the Donetsk region (east), divided by the front line, three employees of the railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, were killed in an attack on a railway site.

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