2022–present rail war in Russia | |||
---|---|---|---|
Part of the 2022–2023 Belarusian and Russian partisan movement | |||
Date | 24 February 2022 – present | ||
Caused by | Russian invasion of Ukraine | ||
Methods | |||
Status | Ongoing | ||
Parties | |||
The rail war began in different regions of Russia in the spring of 2022 after a similar rail war in Belarus. [5] [6] [7] [8]
According to The Insider's summary of media reports, at least 63 freight trains derailed in Russia between March and June 2022, about one and a half times more than during the same period in 2021. [9]
Responsibility for the "rail war" was assumed by representatives of the "Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists". In particular, they delayed the arrival of trains to a military unit in the Vladimir Oblast, where an arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry is located. [10]
On 28 June 2022 the cell "BOAK-Vladimir" published a press release claiming sabotage action on railway of military unit 55443 VD Barsovo (51st Arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate, 1060th Centre for Material-Technical Support, Western Military District) near Kirzhach in Vladimir Oblast. The rails were damaged. BOAK's press release stated, "Every stopped train helps to get rid of missiles and rockets, which could hit peaceful Ukrainian cities!" [11]
In mid 2022, a second group, the "Stop the Wagons" movement, was created to engage in sabotage on railways in Russia.
Also, the Belarusian organization "Busly Lyatsyats" took responsibility for some of the partisan actions carried out on the infrastructure of the Russian Railways. [3]
On the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, 24 February 2022, the Russian Ministry of Transport ordered to increase the level of security on the railways in the southern regions of Russia. In April, Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate published what it said was a telegram sent by the heads of railroad sections in the Rostov and Krasnodar regions calling for cooperation with the authorities to protect the railways. [9]
In June, RZhD-Partner magazine wrote, citing Goszheldornadzor, that more than 55% of freight train accidents in the previous four months were related to the state of the railway tracks. At the same time, the FSB at least once reported on the detention of people who had allegedly prepared acts of sabotage at a "transport infrastructure facility" in the Belgorod Region. [30]
Two men arrested in March 2022 were sentenced in a Russian court in February 2023 to over 3 years in prison after being suspected of planning a sabotage operation. Three students from the town of Chekhov near Moscow, who had been arrested by the FSB, potentially face up to 10 year prison sentences. [31]
By May 2023 66 individuals had been arrested in relation to railway sabotage issues, the most common offence being the burning of relay boxes, which now have a stencilled warning about the penalties of sabotage on them. [32]
By October 2023 the number arrested had reached 150, one third are children, with 137 prosecuted in 76 cases. [33]
Bryansk is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the River Desna, 379 kilometers (235 mi) southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census.
Rail transport in Ukraine is a major mode of transport in Ukraine. Most railway infrastructure in Ukraine is owned by the government of Ukraine through Ukrzaliznytsia, a joint-stock company which has a de facto country-wide monopoly on passenger and freight transport by rail.
The Naro-Fominsk rail crash occurred on 20 May 2014 when a freight train derailed near Naro-Fominsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia. The train was run into by a passenger train. Nine people were killed and 51 were injured.
Rail sabotage is the act of disrupting a rail transport network. This includes both acts designed only to hinder or delay as well as acts designed to actually destroy a train. Railway sabotage requires considerable effort, due to the design and heavy weight of railways.
The Vereshchyovka train disaster occurred on January 24, 1944, near the village of Vereshchyovka in what was then the Oryol Oblast of the Soviet Union. Sources estimate that over 600 people died in the wreck. It is the deadliest train disaster in Russian history.
Rail sabotage is one of the Belarusian forms of grassroots action opposing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
There have been attacks in mainland Russia as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022. The main targets have been the military, the arms industry and the oil industry. Many of the attacks have been drone strikes, firebombing, and rail sabotage. The Ukrainian intelligence services have acknowledged carrying out some of these attacks. Others have been carried out by anti-war activists in Russia. There has also been cross-border shelling, missile strikes and ground raids from Ukraine, mainly in the Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk oblasts. Several times, Ukrainian-backed armed groups have launched incursions from Ukraine into Russia, captured border villages and battled the Russian military. While Ukraine has supported these ground incursions, it has denied direct involvement.
The Russian mystery fires are a series of unusual fires and explosions that have occurred since the invasion of Ukraine, which have not been formally explained. There have been many notable arson attacks on military recruitment offices in Russia since the beginning of the war, and there has been speculation that some of the fires or explosions have been the result of sabotage efforts by Russian partisans or Ukrainian saboteurs.
During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia occupied vast portions of the territory of Ukraine, having already occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts as well as the entire Autonomous Republic of Crimea since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2014. Partisan groups began to be organized in mid-2022. These groups have been involved in intelligence-gathering, sabotage, and assassinations. Much of their activity has taken place in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
The Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists is a militant anarcho-communist organization in Eastern Europe, part of the Belarusian and Russian partisan movement. It aims for social revolution and a libertarian socialist society. Since the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has sabotaged railway infrastructure in Russia and Belarus, as well as attacking Russian military commissariats and telecommunications. According to The Insider, the group has become "the most active 'subversive' force" in Russia since the war began.
On 24 August 2022, the Independence Day of Ukraine, a railway station in Chaplyne, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, was shelled by the Russian Armed Forces resulting in at least 25 dead and about 31 wounded.
A series of Molotov cocktail arson attacks and shootings took place in Russian military commissariat registration and enlistment offices following the start of the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Other governmental buildings were also attacked in multiple regions of Russia. Part of the Russian partisan and anti-war movements, the attacks were spurred by several factors, including the invasion of Ukraine, the deployment of Russian conscripts to the front line, the start of spring conscription, and rumors about possible mobilization in the country, which were later found to be true.
Pro-democratic and pro-Ukrainian partisan movements have emerged in Belarus and Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War. These resistance movements act against the authoritarian governments of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus and Vladimir Putin in Russia, as well as against civilian supporters of these authorities and the armed forces of both countries, with the aim of stopping the war.
Stop the Wagons is a Russian anti-war movement that engaged in sabotaging Russian railways in various ways to prevent the transport of equipment, fuel, ammunition and other supplies to the war in Ukraine.
Busły liaciać is a Belarusian opposition resistance group founded on 13 November 2020 and fighting against the Alexander Lukashenko government. Included together with the Cyber Partisans in the association "Supraciŭ".
National Socialism / White Power Crew, is a Neo-Nazi extremist group operating in Russia, recognized by the Supreme Court of Russia as a terrorist organization.
The Belarusian partisan movement is an ongoing campaign of resistance against the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko. It began in response to the violent suppression of the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests. The partisans aim to depose Lukashenko's government and expel Russian troops from Belarus.
Berdiansk Partisan Army is a Ukrainian underground partisan group operating in Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. It has been involved in attacks against the Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
On 8 October 2022, at 6:07 a.m., a fire broke out on the Crimean Bridge as a result of an explosion of a bomb loaded onto a truck, which occurred on the road bridge, on the westbound vehicle lanes running from Russia to Kerch in Russian-occupied Crimea. Two two-lane vehicular spans of the bridge collapsed into the water. Two adjacent eastbound lanes on a separate structure survived. The railway bridge was also damaged by a railway tanker car that caught fire. Five people were killed. Following the incident, the Investigative Committee of Russia launched an investigation.
The 1060th Red Banner Center for Material-Technical Support is a unit of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation that supervises logistical support of the Russian Ground Forces, Russian Navy and Air and Space Forces within the territories of the Western Military District.