The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Friday that it had attacked a train and a train depot in Donetsk Oblast on Thursday – using aircraft, missiles, and artillery. The train allegedly contained Western weapons intended for the front. According to the Ukrainian Railway Company Ukrzaliznytsia Three employees were killed and four others injured in the attack.
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In a second attack on a train station in the town of Balaklia, in Kharkiv Oblast, a train carrying soldiers and equipment from the 67th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian army was targeted, according to Russia. There is no evidence of these claims, and images on social media also do not indicate that it is a military transport. According to Ukraine, only ten civilians were injured in that attack.
A third Russian attack on railway infrastructure in Smila, in Cherkasy Oblast, is said to have been carried out with an Iskander missile. According to Ukrainian authorities, six people were injured and 47 buildings were damaged.
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“Harbinger of new offensive”
According to an anonymous, high-ranking Ukrainian official, Russia is deliberately targeting the Ukrainian railway system in order to “paralyze” (Western) arms supplies. With these attacks, the country would prepare a new offensive, according to the official. “The Russian bombing of Ukrainian rail infrastructure and transport is equivalent to classic measures that precede an offensive,” it said. “The aim is to paralyze deliveries and the transport of military supplies.”
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Ukrainian authorities have been warning for some time that the coming weeks will be difficult. Russia hopes to make rapid progress on the front before the effect of the new American support package becomes noticeable.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia wants to capture the town of Chasiv Yar by May 9 – Russia’s Victory Day – an important logistics hub of the Ukrainian army. According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian army has concentrated 25,000 soldiers in the region for this purpose.
