Pro-Ukrainian partisans sabotage rail equipment in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast, group claims
Members of the pro-Ukrainian partisan group Atesh sabotaged railway equipment in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Atesh claimed on Nov. 16.
Atesh operatives set fire to a relay cabinet on a key section of the railway near Novobohdanivka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast's Melitopol district, only 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the front line, Atesh said.
The sabotage operation "instantly stopped the movement of the occupiers' military trains," the group wrote.
With the disrupted railway line so close to the front line, Ukrainian forces were able to target the blocked trains with a "precise missile and artillery strike," Atesh said.
The damaged rail infrastructure also temporarily disrupted Russian logistics, the group reported, interfering with supply deliveries to occupying Russian troops in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
The resulting shortages of fuel and ammunition have "led to a decrease in the intensity" of fighting in those areas, Atesh said.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims at the time of publication.
The Atesh movement regularly commits sabotage attacks on Russian territory and in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
In October, partisans reported a sabotage operation against railway infrastructure in Russia's Rostov Oblast. The group said it destroyed a traffic control cabinet, delaying the transport of military personnel and supplies to the front.
