Ukrainian Partisans and Strikes Destroy Major Railways!

Today, there is important news from Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

Here, as Russian commanders are throwing more forces forward in their summer offensive, the Ukrainian military decided to sabotage their efforts in the most efficient way possible. Targeting Russian railway assets in the territories under Russian control and deep in Russia itself with precise drone strikes, the Ukrainians aim to disrupt Russian logistics and cripple their assault at the most vulnerable point.  

Ukrainian forces started a massive, coordinated attack targeting critical railway infrastructure in Russian-controlled Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian drones struck two crucial electricity substations in Makiivka, responsible for powering electric trains.

Explosions set the facilities ablaze, triggering widespread blackouts and severely disrupting regional rail transport. Notably, the railroads in Ukraine’s heavily industrialized Donbas region, with Donetsk at its center, operate almost exclusively on electric-powered locomotives. Nasa’s Firms satellite imagery confirmed three significant fires along industrial rail lines near Donetsk, highlighting the precision and effectiveness of the strikes that have paralyzed the city, which serves as the main military base for the Russian summer offensive in the region.

Secondly, Ukraine targeted railway infrastructure deep within Russia's Rostov region.

A drone assault hit Salsk station, igniting a fuel-laden train and damaging overhead power lines, halting traffic along the critical Rostov-Donetsk line, and additionally sabotaging the inflow of military supplies to the major hub in Donbas. The incident caused extensive delays, disrupting connections as distant as Novorossiysk. Further north, drones destroyed the upper floors of the crucial Likhaya switching station and severely damaged transmission equipment, while another strike disabled the modern control center in Kamenolomna, responsible for managing all rail traffic in southern Russia.

The Dvoynaya traction substation in Orlovsky, essential for powering trains, was also effectively targeted and neutralized.

Russian rail logistics represent the critical backbone of Moscow's war effort in Ukraine, responsible for almost all supply and reinforcement activities due to Russia’s immense geographic expanse. The extensive rail network allows Russia to rapidly move vast quantities of ammunition, heavy weaponry, fuel, and personnel over great distances to frontline positions. This is something trucks alone cannot achieve efficiently, given the vast territory involved. Railways offer unmatched transport capacity, reliability, and speed for heavy military hardware, making them indispensable for sustaining Russia’s large-scale military operations.

With Ukraine actively targeting Russian rail lines, logistics hubs, and supply trains, disruption to this rail-based system significantly impacts Moscow's ability to wage effective war. Destroyed railway infrastructure or sabotaged logistics create bottlenecks that force Russia to use road transport, which is slower, more vulnerable, and less capable of handling the enormous volume of wartime supplies needed daily at the front, as well as putting a deeper material strain on the vehicles driving these supply runs. Thus, attacking and interrupting railway logistics not only weakens Russia’s operational momentum but also depletes frontline units of necessary resources, leading to strategic vulnerability and operational paralysis on the battlefield.

As part of this larger operation, Ukrainian drones recently also struck the Oktyabrsky railway station in Volgograd Oblast, targeting an electric substation vital for powering the region's railway lines.

Another precision drone attack hit the crucial rail logistics hub in Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, responsible for transferring military equipment, ammunition, and fuel toward the Ukrainian front. This location also hosts the 1061st Material and Technical Support Center, essential to Russia’s Southern Military District’s operations.

Near Dzerzhinsk in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, at least twelve powerful explosions erupted when Ukrainian drones targeted a train carrying hazardous chemicals for Russia’s defense industry.

Meanwhile, partisan fighters from the Atesh movement sabotaged a railway in Russian-controlled Kherson, completely halting critical military cargo toward Melitopol.

In Zaporizhia, strikes disrupted Russian military rail transport for over a week, while right after repairs were finished, partisans blew up a munition-loaded train on the same line, once again blocking and disrupting a main supply artery crucial for Russian front-line logistics.

Overall, the Ukrainian strikes reveal a clear, deliberate pattern of targeting critical nodes and junctions in Russia’s southern rail network, effectively creating strategic chokepoints to disrupt logistics. With documented damage to at least eight key nodes, these attacks systematically aim to sever rail supply routes supporting Russian combat operations. The precision, accurate timing, and intelligence behind the strikes confirm Ukraine’s focused strategy aimed at crippling Russia’s logistical capabilities, critically impacting its operational strength during the Russian summer offensive.

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