The Ukrainian campaign against the Russian railway system continues: a freight train was attacked on Thursday in Crimea as it was en route from the city of Simferopol to Sevastopol, the peninsula's main and largest port city. The attack shut down the entire railway system on the peninsula.
Russian media said there were no casualties in the attack on the train and that it was apparently carried out by sabotaging partisans who received orders from Kyiv. In addition, a train station was attacked and set on fire in the southern Russian city of Kazan after apparently deliberate arson.
The strike comes after Russia fired about 30 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones at the capital Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine overnight. The Ukrainian military says it intercepted 29 of the 30 vehicles fired into the country and that one building in the capital caught fire after shrapnel from an interceptor hit it. Experts believe Russia is trying to paralyze Kyiv's air defense systems, fearing that the Ukrainian military is absorbing new air defense systems that could compromise Russia's ability to operate in Ukrainian airspace.
Destruction on the streets of the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, Photo: Reuters
Meanwhile, there are increasing reports that the Russian army is close to completing the takeover of the city of Bakhmut, after more than ten months of fighting and tens of thousands of casualties. German newspaper Bild reported today that the Russian army controls about 98 percent of the city, but is losing control of the city's flanks, south and north.
Russian military bloggers reported that the Russian army was sending huge reinforcements to the city from other sectors of Ukraine, in an attempt to prevent erosion in the flanks and the possibility of the Russian army encirclement in Bakhmut. In recent weeks, tensions have risen between the Russian military leadership and the Wagner Force, a mercenary company commanded by Putin's close associate, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The commander accuses the Russian army of withholding ammunition from its men and poor military performance.
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