Pro-ukrainian guerillas blow up railway to hamper Russian travel

UKRAINIAN partisans have damaged a stretch of railway in occupied Kherson in a guerrilla attack on Russian logistics.

The Atesh movement claimed responsibility for the explosive strike, which they said would hinder the supply of Russian troops in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

“We work around the clock for the destruction of the occupying forces and the liberation of Ukraine,” the group said on the Telegram messaging app.

A video shared alongside the social media post showed a detonation alongside a section of railroad.

A subsequent picture shared by the Baza Telegram channel, which is linked to Ukraine’s security services, appeared to show that just a single track of the railway had been damaged.

The alleged attack took place between the settlements of Radensk and Abrikosivka, which are between 20 and 30 miles behind enemy lines in Russian-held territory, on the left bank of the Dnipro River.

The claims of sabotage could not be independently verified by The Daily Telegraph. It was not clear how much disruption the attack had caused.

Partisans have played an increasingly important role in helping degrade Russian forces before assaults by Ukraine’s conventional forces. Natalia Humeniuk, a military spokesman, said the railroad attack was a “rehearsal” for more substantial strikes to come against Russian positions.

“To carry out a large-scale action, you need to rehearse a little,” she said.

“In addition, we need to find out, understand and redirect the enemy’s actions in certain areas in order to free up other areas for our own actions.”

Guerrillas operating behind enemy lines help to keep Russian logistics and transportation routes under the control of Kyiv, added Capt Humeniuk.

Atesh, a movement of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, has been behind a growing number of attacks in southern Ukraine.