The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Ukraine: railway workers clear rails – at walking pace through the mine area

2022-09-13T16:38:53.864Z


Oleksandr Kamyshin heads the Ukrainian state railway company. In an orange railcar, he and his team explore places cut off during the war. He shared his day-to-day work on Twitter.


Enlarge image

Oleksandr Kamyshin in August

Photo: Pavlo Bagmut / NurPhoto / IMAGO

Until recently, the area was still occupied by Russia.

Now that the Russians have abandoned it under pressure from the Ukrainian counteroffensive, what remains are broken granaries, deserted nature - and broken rail networks.

The head of the Ukrainian state railway company, Oleksandr Kamyshin, is traveling with a team in Ukraine trying to restore rail connections to cut off places.

He has now reported on the dangerous operation on Twitter.

It starts with the news that the mission will ultimately fail: "Today I failed," writes Kamyshin.

“I did everything possible and a little bit more, but I failed.” His plan was to take the train to the recently recaptured city of B.

He did not reveal which city he meant and in which part of the country it is located.

In the past few days, Ukraine has recaptured areas occupied by Russia in the south and east in several offensives – President Volodymyr Zelenskyj recently spoke of 6,000 square kilometers.

Railway chief Kamyshin wrote that he had failed in his mission to get to the city.

'It's been a long, long day.

So listen to the story.”

Kamyshin writes about the picture of an orange railcar that they were traveling with a railcar that was transporting track repair teams.

The 70-kilometer drive was "hypnotizing."

He also posts a video showing the view from the railcar: gray sky, bushes and trees left and right, nothing but nature.

The main problem on such missions in recaptured areas, Kamyshin writes, are mines.

He also posted a photo showing a sign with red writing next to the railcar between the tracks.

There is a warning about mines.

A video shows how the railcar slowly rolls through the landscape.

They also found used rockets, the railway worker writes about a corresponding photo.

Apparently, however, the missiles pictured were lying on the tracks for oncoming traffic.

Kamyshin also photographed a broken granary along the way.

According to Kamyshin, mine experts then ran in front of the railcar for more than ten kilometers to secure the journey.

Kamyshin obviously appreciates their work: »They are fantastic.

Really,” he wrote.

He also posted a photo of one of the experts in a protective vest and helmet walking on the track bed.

The first defective splint was not a problem, Kamyshin continues.

"A few hours to fix it, no more," he comments succinctly.

In the accompanying photo there is a gaping hole in a track, a metal rail is broken, the sleepers are broken and shifted.

'Will fix that too.

Do not worry"

The next problem: an accumulation of stones in the track bed, which the railcar apparently cannot pass.

The Russians built a crossing for their military vehicles here, writes Kamyshin.

'Will fix that too.

Don't worry,' he comments.

They had found a projectile that had not yet exploded.

“Imagine this projectile was made in 1976.

It's older than me!' wrote the railroad boss.

According to media reports, Kamyshin was 37 years old in March.

The experts, according to Kamyshin, blew up the projectile directly.

They also found the remains of phosphorus bombs, the railway worker wrote.

The information could not be independently verified.

Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of using such banned incendiary weapons in the past (read more about phosphorus bombs in this article).

Other parts of the tracks were also damaged.

Kamyshin also shared a photo of a train station: he writes that it has not been used for 200 days.

The picture shows a small shelter with bushes and weeds growing in front of it.

Before Kamyshin shared the many photos and videos from the mission, he had informed the public about his lunch: bread, sausage, tomatoes.

"Incredibly delicious, especially when you're hungry enough," he commented.

He shared the meal with the rest of the team, in the video you can see how one of the men has a backpack on his lap, with sausage lying on a tarpaulin.

Another cuts them into five pieces, then distributes slices of bread.

The video also shows more bread in bags and packaged sausages.

The men talk to each other as the railcar lurches through the countryside.

On the way, the railroaders still encounter numerous hurdles: fallen masts on the tracks that impede onward travel, ammunition stuck in a nut on the track, destroyed tracks upon destroyed tracks.

"We didn't reach the city of B. this evening," Kamyshin finally reports.

'The deminers have to finish their work tomorrow.

And this rail remains unused and rusty for a few more days.

Only a few.« (read a report on the work of the mine experts here).

At the end of the day there was the second round of bread with sausage.

"The Losers' Dinner," wrote Kamyshin.

He knew sausage and bread for dinner was a bad idea.

'But this is the best supper we can have.

And that was so delicious, believe me.«

In the end they drove all the way back, Kamyshin concludes his report.

He also shares a video that shows the driver's cab of the railcar in semi-darkness as it drives through the landscape.

He writes: "Yes, we didn't manage to get to town B. today." Tomorrow they would try again.

okay

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-09-13

You may like

News/Politics 2024-03-26T06:24:48.062Z
News/Politics 2024-03-27T09:25:10.671Z
News/Politics 2024-03-11T07:09:08.598Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.