Ukrainian forces blew up a Russian armored train that they said was transporting personnel to the occupied city of Melitopol on Wednesday, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The day before, partisans in Melitopol said they had “eliminated high-ranking Russian servicemen,” according to Ukraine’s Zaporizhia Oblast Military Administration. The administration, which shared the findings in a Telegram post Tuesday, did not specify how or how many Russian servicemen were allegedly killed. It also did not identify any of the servicemen by name.
Newsweek appealed to the Russian Ministry of Defense to confirm the train explosion in Melitopol and the killed Russian servicemen.
The armored train attack and the deaths of Russian servicemen would be one of the latest indications of the progress of Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the Russia-Ukraine war. Ukraine’s military shared a video Wednesday that it said Ukrainian troops destroyed a Russian BMP tank and blew up Russian troops, while Ukraine’s 45th Air Assault Brigade said earlier this week that its troops had bombed a Russian ammunition depot. and armored vehicles.
Ukrainian forces reportedly blew up a Russian armored train that they said was transporting personnel and equipment to the occupied city of Melitopol on Wednesday, according to several Ukrainian officials. Above, Russian servicemen patrol a street in Melitopol, Ukraine, on May 1. Andrey Borodulin / AFP via Getty Images
Both Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and Ivan Fedorov, the elected mayor of Melitopol, posted on social media that Ukrainian forces had blown up an armored Russian train.
Gerashchenko said on Twitter on Wednesday that an explosive charge had detonated under a car carrying Russian personnel.
“The railway line is damaged, a number of victims and deaths are currently being determined,” a translated version of the publication said.
Gerashchenko also shared a photo of what appears to be the directional train, although the photo does not immediately show major damage.
Fedorov also briefly mentioned the explosion in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
“Melitopol guerrillas together with Ukrainian special services carried out a remote detonation of an armored train of the Russian occupiers,” the publication said.
As for the deaths of high-ranking Russian servicemen, the Zaporozhye Regional Military Administration claims in a Telegram publication that Russia is now trying to “hide” this development from public view. Members of the Russian military in Melitopol have stepped up inspections of private vehicles, the administration said, speculating that they are looking for guerrillas.
Melitopol is located in southeastern Ukraine and was captured by Russian forces in the early days of the war. Fedorov, the city’s mayor, was captured by Russian forces in March, but later returned to his duties after the city’s residents and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky demanded his release.
Newsweek asked the Ministries of Defense of Russia and Ukraine for comment.
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