Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate reported that partisans had stopped the movement of civilian trains and military convoys on the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region overnight on Jan. 4.
This marks at least the sixth case of railroad sabotage in Russia this year, with approximately 40 cases having been recorded in 2022, the intelligence said.
The Ukrainian military believes this indicates a growing resistance movement in the country.
“A significant intensification of railway partisans in Russia took place after the announcement of partial mobilization by the (Russian dictator Vladimir) Putin's regime,” the report reads.
On Jan. 3, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia is preparing a new wave of mobilization.
The same warning came on Dec. 30 from Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, who spoke to Russian citizens in a video address, saying that the country’s leadership was preparing for a new wave of mobilization.
Reznikov stated that Russian authorities would declare martial law, close the borders to men, and begin another wave of mobilization starting Jan. 5.
This announcement was supported by Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, who stated in an interview with the BBC that Russia is planning the new wave of mobilization due to a lack of manpower.
Suffering defeats on the battlefield, Russia has also had to rely on the Kremlin-backed military contractor Wagner Group, which has been recruiting Russian prison inmates to fill its ranks.
Putin declared a “partial mobilization” of conscripts on Sept. 21, aiming to draft 300,000 new soldiers into the Russian army.
