This article by Thibault Spirlet was originally published by Business Insider.
Ukraine set off four explosive devices on a freight train operating on the only major railroad connecting Russia and China, CNN reported, citing an unnamed Ukrainian defense source.
The unnamed source, which is said to have inside knowledge of the operations, told the outlet that Ukraine’s Security Services, or SBU, were behind the attack.
“The explosion is yet another successful special operation by the SBU,” the source said.
The train was struck while crossing a tunnel in the republic of Buryatia on the railway connecting the Russian city of Baikal and the far eastern city of Amur, per the outlet.
The railway line, the source added, is the “only major railroad connection between Russia and China.”
The source failed to specify the extent of the damage.
Related: Russia’s armored trains: Major vulnerability or smart warfare?
The Baikal-Amur mainline road stretches almost 400 miles from the Russian town of Tayshet to the far-eastern Russian town of Sovetskaya Gavan, per the Trans-Siberian Travel Company website.
This is the second such attack in the area, according to the independent Russian media outlet Baza.
Unidentified people previously targeted a freight train transporting 50 cars, including 41 tank cars containing diesel fuel and aviation fuel, while passing through a tunnel separating the Russian towns of Itykit and Okusikina, per the outlet.
The explosion destroyed a car, and holes were found in two other cars, with fuel leakages damaging the rails and making further transportation impossible, per the outlet.
Business Insider could not independently verify these reports.
Trade between Russia and China has soared since the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, with China supplying Russia with helicopters, drones, and crucial raw materials, a Telegraph investigation found in August.
Russia imported more than $100 million worth of drones from China as of July, as well as $225 million in ceramics, which can be used in body armor, in the same period, Politico Europe reported at the time, citing customs records.
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