Belarusian railway guerrillas helped thwart offensive on Kyiv, - The Washington Post
In the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a lightning capture of Kyiv was planned. However, railway saboteurs have intensified in the Belarusian direction, bringing chaos to the logistics of Russian troops, writes The Washington Post.
According to Censor.NET with reference to RBC-Ukraine.
According to the publication, literally from the first days of the invasion in Belarus, a secret network began to operate, which included railway workers, hackers, and former members of the security forces. It was because of their actions that the food, fuel, and ammunition supply chain was completely paralyzed for several days.
According to representatives of this network, the attacks were simple but effective and were aimed at signal control panels, which are necessary for the operation of railways. As a result, the trains were idle for days, forcing the Russians to replenish stocks with vehicles. This in turn led to the famous multi-kilometer columns in the north of the Kyiv region.
"Given Russia's dependence on trains, I'm sure it contributed to some of the problems they had in the north. It slowed down their ability to move. They couldn't move further into Ukrainian territory and cut off their supply routes because they had to rely on trucks," said Emily Ferris, a researcher at the Royal Institute of International Services in London.
According to Belarusian activist Yuri Ravavoy, the sabotage of the railway won time for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "I can't say that we were the most important factor, but we were an important brick in the wall," he said.
The publication writes that the railway war is still taught in schools in Belarus as the most successful tactics of guerrillas during World War II. However, the current guerrillas sought to avoid casualties, so they focused on damaging the equipment.
"We did not want to kill either Russian military or Belarusian drivers. We used peaceful means to stop them," Ravavoy added, without specifying how the guerrillas carried out the sabotage.
