In the last 24 hours, there have been several reports from the region around the city of Melitopol. On Tuesday night stated the government of Zaporizhia in its Telegram channel that “several high-ranking Russian soldiers” had been liquidated in Melitopol. Later, there were reports of several grenade explosions at the building that Russia had selected as the base for its unit in the occupied city.
On Wednesday reports local news site Ria Melitopol that the Ukrainian army managed to blow up an armored train of ten carriages plus locomotives. They refer to information from the local population and an unnamed source. The blast device must have been placed on the underside of the train and it is unclear how many people were injured by the explosion. The train tracks on which the train was placed have been partially destroyed, according to Ria Melitopol.
Joakim Paasikivi, lieutenant colonel and teacher at the Swedish National Defense College says that Russia has always carried out its operational transports via rail.
– Armored trains were already available during the First World War. It is simply a train where the train carriages are in armor with cannons and machine guns. They are there to transport munitions. Russia even has groups in the military that are trained to work with these transports, so-called railway troops, he says.
He can not verify if the information about the armored train in Melitopol is correct, but says that in such cases it would be an achievement on the part of the Ukrainian side, especially as in that case it has taken place so deep in an area controlled by Russian troops.
– It is difficult to assess the importance of this particular armored train and how large the losses will be for Russia. But it is undeniably remarkable, says Paasikivi.
DN has previously reported that Ukraine has increasingly taken the initiative in the ongoing war. Paasikivi says that this development continues and becomes increasingly clear.
– Ukraine is doing well outside Kharkiv. There are indications that the Russians are being cut off in the area of Izjum. They are simply trying to block their maintenance routes, one of them goes through Izjum.
At the same time, the Russian side has increased its attacks throughout the Luhansk region, according to Paasikivi.
– I think the Russians are now trying to concentrate their resources there. They are giving up more and more of their previous ambitions and are instead trying to consolidate the advantages they have in Luhansk. The more concentrated the forces are in one place, the more stagnant and fragile the fronts in other places become, says Paasikivi.
He also says that Russia’s forces can now be described as a one-time army.
– The resources that are available are the ones that are simply available. And the resources provided can not replace Russia’s losses. However, Ukraine, which receives support from the West, is in a construction phase. They can thus rotate units and personnel.
There is currently nothing which indicates that Russia will receive military support from some other countries, according to Paasikivi.
– No, not even Russia’s own defense alliance CSTO is interested in supporting Putin. They have charters much like NATO because military support only applies to external threats, but here Russia itself has invaded a country. Nor does China seem to want to support Russia in practice, but chooses to do so only verbally. I think they are worried that they will also be sanctioned otherwise. Having access to Russian gas and trade with Europe is economically advantageous for China, says Joakim Paasikivi.
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin has been visiting Melitopol in recent days. Whether the unrest in the region has to do with his visit is unclear.
– I believe that the perspective of the Zaporizhia region in the future will be about cooperating in our friendly, Russian family. That is why I am here to show maximum support for integration, he says according to the Russian state news agency Ria.
He also took the opportunity to promise that Russia will rebuild all the “liberated” regions of Ukraine, ie the regions occupied by Russia. The Zaporizhia region has been largely occupied by Russia since the beginning of the war. Khusnullin now also promised that residents there will receive salaries and pensions paid in rubles instead of the Ukrainian currency hryvnia at the end of May.