Ukraine services say they destroy Russian train carrying fuel

16/12/2024 6:05

Ukraine's SBU security service said

on Sunday it had launched an operation to destroy 40 rail cars

carrying fuel to Russian troops in an area of the Zaporizhzhia

region Moscow holds in southern Ukraine.



The SBU told Reuters the operation involved different

intelligence and military services and unfolded over a series of

stages.



"The aim was to disrupt the logistical supply routes for

fuel from Crimea to temporarily occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia,"

it said in a statement.



Reuters could not independently verify the Ukrainian

account. Russia made no immediate comment on the reported

incident.



The SBU said one of its units organised a sabotage operation

that damaged a rail line as the train was moving near the

village of Oleksiivka in a Russian-held part of Zaporizhzhia

region.



The train was halted, with tanker cars ablaze, and army

units fired U.S.-supplied HIMARS missiles at the site.



"The missiles struck the locomotive and cars at the end of

the train. The enemy was unable to reach the tanks and salvage

some of the fuel," the statement said.



"As a result of the special operation, the locomotive and 40

tanker cars were destroyed and an important rail line used to

supply Russian troops was taken out of service for an extended

period."



Russian forces control about 70% of Zaporizhzhia region and

a Ukrainian military spokesperson said last month Kyiv expected

Moscow to launch concerted attacks in the region soon.



Russian forces also control about 70% of neighbouring

Kherson region and about 80 percent of the Donbas in the east,

the main theatre of current clashes in the 33-month-old war.