Russian anti-war group claims responsibility for damaging railway near Belarus border

A Russian anti-war group Stop the Wagons has claimed responsibility for an attack on a derailing a train near Belarus border. The statement of Stop The Wagons comes after the Russia's Belgorod region on Monday announced that an explosive device damaged the railway near Nozovybkovo village, The Newsweek reported. In a statement on Telegram, Bryansk Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz stated that no casualties were reported by the damage caused to the railway and emergency site were deployed to the site. 

Aleksandr Bogomaz wrote in Telegram post, "Tonight, on the stretch between the settlements of Novozybkov and Zlynka, an unknown explosive device went off. Railroad tracks damaged. There were no casualties. Emergency services are on site."

Notably, the railway line is the rail link between Russia and southern Belarus and is used for supplying logistics to Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine. While sharing a picture of the damage caused to the railway line, Stop the Wagons in the post on Telegram said, "The results of this small explosive sabotage will have to be eliminated with a complete re-laying of the rails. And that's great. The war will not pass!," as per the Newsweek report. The images that have emerged on Twitter showcase damaged railway track. 

'Sixth incident of sabotage against Russian railway claimed by STW': UK 

Earlier on October 26, the UK Defence Ministry in its intelligence update said that the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region announced that an explosive device had damaged the railway near the village of Novozybkovo, which is approximately 15 kilometres from the Russia-Belarus border. The British MoD said that it is the sixth instance that the Russian anti-war group ‘Stop the Wagons’ (STW)' has claimed responsibility for the attack against Russian railway infrastructure since June. 

The UK Defence Ministry said, "This is part of a wider trend of dissident attacks against railways in both Russia and Belarus. The Russian authorities have previously clamped down on STW’s online presence." According to the UK, Russian troops depend on railways for deploying forces to Ukraine. The British MoD said, "The Russian leadership will be increasingly concerned that even a small group of citizens has been sufficiently opposed to the conflict to resort to physical sabotage."

"The Russian anti-war group ‘Stop the Wagons’ (STW) claimed responsibility for the incident. This is at least the sixth incident of sabotage against Russian railway infrastructure claimed by STW since June," the UK Ministry of Defence said in the intelligence update. 

"The Russia military primarily relies on rail transport for deploying forces to Ukraine, but with a network extending to over 33,000km, largely transiting isolated areas, the system is extremely challenging to secure against physical threats," it added.

Image: Twitter/@PStyle0ne1