Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed a Russian train transporting 40 fuel tankers in the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia region, cutting off a key supply route for the Russian military, reported Suspilne Zaporizhzhia on December 15.
On December 14, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in collaboration with the Tavria Operational-Strategic Group, the Defense Intelligence Directorate (HUR), Special Operations Forces, and Drone Systems Forces, carried out a coordinated operation to disrupt the supply chain of fuel from Russia to occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
According to reports, the first phase of the mission involved SBU special forces from the 13th Directorate of Military Counterintelligence sabotaging the railway tracks near the village of Oleksiivka in the Bilmak district. The explosion derailed the train, forcing it to stop.
After the train derailed, soldiers from the 14th Drone Systems Regiment struck the immobilized train with attack drones, setting several tankers ablaze.
⚡️ A Russian train with 40 tanks of fuel was reportedly destroyed in temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia region, according to Suspline.
— UNITED24 Media (@United24media) December 15, 2024
The Ukrainian operation consisted of two stages, during which a railroad line from Crimea to Zaporizhzhia was also disabled.
📹: Suspline pic.twitter.com/xgHsIqFJGk
The operation continued as aerial reconnaissance units from HUR guided a precise HIMARS missile strike targeting the locomotive and end wagons of the train. This strike rendered any attempt to salvage the fuel tankers futile, preventing Russian forces from separating and removing undamaged cars to contain the fire and save the remaining supplies.
To complete the mission, HUR operatives deployed more drones to destroy any remaining tankers, ensuring the total incapacitation of the train and its cargo.
As a result of the operation, the locomotive and all 40 fuel tankers were destroyed.
Analysts from the OSINT group moklasen, using video evidence, geolocated the attack to a railway section between the villages of Oleksiivka in the Bilmak district and Zelenyi Hai in the Polohy district of the Zaporizhzhia region.
In addition to the direct destruction of the train, the attack temporarily disabled the only railway line supplying Russian forces in the occupied parts of the Zaporizhzhia region, significantly hampering their logistics.
Earlier, Ukrainian HUR conducted a special operation, destroying a Su-30 fighter jet and 3 locomotives in Russia on December 13-14.
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