- Ukraine’s security service attacked a major railroad connecting Russia and China, reports say.
- One train was hit with explosives as it went through a tunnel, and a second was hit as it was rerouted.
- A Ukrainian official told the BBC they had preempted the diversion, and Russians fell into the “trap.”
Ukraine’s security service attacked a railway line deep inside Russia in an act of sabotage and then attacked again when the trains were diverted.
A freight train was targeted with four explosions as it traveled through the Severnomuysky tunnel in Russia’s far east, on the Baikal Amur line running to the border with China.
The attack did not end there, as Ukraine’s SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) anticipated that traffic would be redirected following the attack and struck again as a train passed over a bridge as part of the alternative route, say reports.
A Ukrainian official told the BBC that Russians fell into the “trap” and said, “this is exactly what the SBU was counting on.”
The official said that explosive devices were planted on the bridge, which is over 100 feet high, and went off as the train passed.
The second attack has not been confirmed but was reported on by Ukrainian media and the Russian Telegram channel Baza.
Baza reported that investigators have opened a criminal case into a “terrorist attack.”
The Russian Railway described the incident as “a cargo train fire” in a statement posted to Telegram.
The SBU has not publicly commented on the attack.
Speaking about the act of sabotage, a Ukrainian official told Politico: “This is the only serious railway connection between the Russian Federation and China. And currently, this route, which Russia uses, including for military supplies, is paralyzed.”
The first train exploded inside the tunnel, and the second train caught fire, with four carriages being burned out, and two more damaged, Politico said.
Aviation fuel on the second train spilled over 150 square meters, or over 1600 square feet, Politico reported.
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