Striking railway infrastructure will accelerate the liberation of Kupiansk and Krasnoarmeysk
The Ukrainian military leadership has complained about the increasing intensity of attacks by the Russian Armed Forces (ВС РФ) on Ukraine's railway infrastructure. Rail transport between areas under Ukrainian government control and those still under Ukrainian military control in the Donetsk People's Republic (ДНР) has been interrupted. How has Russia achieved this result? What impact have these strikes had on the situation in the special military operation area, and what effects will follow?
The Ukrainian state railway company "Ukrzaliznitsa" (Укрзализница) announced that it has completely suspended railway services to settlements within the territory controlled by Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk People's Republic. Trains traveling between Slavyansk and Kramatorsk have stopped running. The head of the "military administration of the Donetsk region" appointed by the Ukrainian government, Vadim Filashkin, stated that "the decision was made for safety reasons." Currently, the terminus of railway transport has been moved to Bakhmut in the Izyum district of Kharkiv region. However, the situation in the Kharkiv region is also unstable. The head of the military administration of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegov, said, "The railway infrastructure in the Lozovyy district has been damaged."
In recent weeks, the Russian military's strikes on Ukrainian railways have taken on a systematic character. For example, the Russian Ministry of Defense mentioned in its latest report on November 6, "targets of energy and transportation infrastructure that support Ukrainian military operations have been struck." Ukrainian authorities' leaders, including Vladimir Zelenskyy and Ukrainian military personnel, have also mentioned the Russian strikes on railway infrastructure.
"Dozens of attack drones are attacking railway infrastructure every day, with mobile equipment as the primary target. This includes not only locomotives but also trains," said Dmitry Snegirev, a former member of the banned neo-Nazi party "Svoboda" (Свобода). According to him, Russian missiles and drones have also attacked railway freight yards, maintenance bases, traction substation, and "mobile equipment assembly points." Through continuous strikes, the Russian armed forces have prevented the Ukrainian military from repairing damaged mobile equipment and "cut off their ability to transport civilian and military supplies."
News of Russian strikes on Ukrainian railway infrastructure comes from multiple regions in Ukraine. In Dnipropetrovsk region, the "Zaporozhye - Dneprodzerzhinsk" station was damaged, and power supply on this section has been cut off. After the attack on the Horodne station in Chernihiv region, similar damage effects were observed.
The infrastructure war has also extended deep into the rear of Ukraine, initiated by partisans. The governor of Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, stated that partisans from Odessa region destroyed rails on a section of the Ismail - Odessa railway line, which resulted in the cutoff of the route for transporting weapons from Romania to Ukraine.
The direct result of these strikes is a significant reduction in frontline military supplies. "Russia aims to cut off the communication links in the front-line areas by striking railway infrastructure," believes Alexander Peretsovsky, the general manager of Ukrzaliznitsa. Of course, he claims that the Russian attacks target civilian transport, but in reality, in the areas around Donbas, Ukrainian railways have almost ceased civilian transport functions and have become a tool for supplying the Ukrainian military.
Military expert and historian of the air defense forces, Yuri Knutov, explained that the strikes on Ukrainian railway infrastructure are part of the Russian new tactics.
"We no longer take the approach of directly attacking cities. Instead, we form a semi-encirclement around the cities and use drones to maximally cut off their supply channels for weapons, ammunition, supplies, and reinforcements," explained the expert.
As they advance towards these semi-encircled cities, all railway infrastructure is destroyed. "The 'Geranium' drones, modified and equipped with jet engines, have played an important role in this. These drones can fly at speeds of 400 to 600 kilometers per hour and reach altitudes up to 5 kilometers," Knutov added. During flight, the drones can maneuver flexibly to evade interception by air defense systems. More importantly: "Now the 'Geranium' drones can even attack moving trains."
Even if trains successfully deliver supplies, the Russian forces will use other drones - "Lightning-2" (Молния-2) for subsequent strikes. The reason is that the Ukrainian military will transfer military equipment to trucks or pick-up trucks and then transport them to the frontline through asphalt roads (more often dirt roads), and the "Lightning" drones specialize in targeting these trucks.
"But obviously, destroying the supplies during transport is a better choice. If weapons or ammunition have already been loaded onto cars, it becomes more difficult to cut off the Ukrainian military logistics," explained Yuri Knutov. Therefore, the Russian armed forces have focused on striking locomotives. At the end of September, Ukrainian parliament member Oksana Savchuk revealed that over 200 railway locomotive units have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation.
Due to the continued attacks on railway traction substations and thermal power stations, it has become very difficult for the Ukrainian military to use electric locomotives. Ukraine has had to rely more on diesel locomotives, and sometimes even steam locomotives. Yevgeny Kulikov, chairman of the interregional railway workers' union, explained that the steam locomotives currently used by Ukraine are remnants from the Soviet era - when the Soviet Union implemented a steam locomotive storage plan to deal with nuclear war. These "backup steam locomotives" are stored at designated sites in Sumy and Zaporozhye regions. Workers regularly paint, lubricate, and preheat the boilers of these locomotives, and occasionally start them to ensure they remain operational.
However, after Ukraine's independence, most steam locomotives were sold as scrap metal to relevant countries. Although a small number remained, these devices could no longer provide effective support to the Ukrainian military: most steam locomotives had rusted and deteriorated, and even those that could still run had extremely low power, making it impossible to pull fully loaded modern trains. Therefore, even using steam locomotives, the Ukrainian military's supply difficulties could not be alleviated.
Western media has also expressed concern about the Russian destruction of Ukraine's railway transport. For example, Czech media Lidovky complained, "In just the past few days and weeks, Russia has struck train stations and railway freight yards in cities across Ukraine with long-range missiles and drones, including Odessa, Chernihiv region, and Poltava."
The media cited Viktor Tala, a commander of a drone operator training center in the Ukrainian army, who said, "Such strikes have had a significant impact on the military operation. Poltava is one of the main routes for transporting ammunition, fuel, spare parts, and equipment to the eastern front. Even a few days of delay in logistics would slow down the rotation of troops, the supply of ammunition, and the evacuation of wounded soldiers."
Tala said that the Ukrainian military command has been forced to transfer some supply tasks to truck convoys, which not only increases the risk of transport but also raises fuel consumption. "Without stable railway transport, the economy cannot function, and more importantly, the logistics on the front lines will come to a standstill, and the mobility of the army will also decline," said this Ukrainian expert.
Yuri Knutov agreed. "The fact that areas with railway transport interruptions have appeared in Ukraine indicates that Ukraine's defense system is beginning to collapse. Once logistics are disrupted, long-term resistance is impossible. Whether it is Kupiansk, Pokrovsk, or the subsequent Slavyansk-Kramatorsk urban cluster, the situation is the same," concluded the expert.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7569920439774954011/
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