WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine services say they destroy Russian train carrying fuel

Ukraine's SBU security service said on Sunday it had launched an operation to destroy 40 rail cars carrying fuel to Russian troops in an area of the Zaporizhzhia region Moscow holds in southern Ukraine.

The SBU told Reuters the operation involved different intelligence and military services and unfolded over a series of stages.

"The aim was to disrupt the logistical supply routes for fuel from Crimea to temporarily occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia," it said in a statement.

Reuters could not independently verify the Ukrainian account. Russia made no immediate comment on the reported incident.

The SBU said one of its units organised a sabotage operation that damaged a rail line as the train was moving near the village of Oleksiivka in a Russian-held part of Zaporizhzhia region.

The train was halted, with tanker cars ablaze, and army units fired U.S.-supplied HIMARS missiles at the site.

"The missiles struck the locomotive and cars at the end of the train. The enemy was unable to reach the tanks and salvage some of the fuel," the statement said.

"As a result of the special operation, the locomotive and 40 tanker cars were destroyed and an important rail line used to supply Russian troops was taken out of service for an extended period."

Russian forces control about 70% of Zaporizhzhia region and a Ukrainian military spokesperson said last month Kyiv expected Moscow to launch concerted attacks in the region soon.

Russian forces also control about 70% of neighbouring Kherson region and about 80 percent of the Donbas in the east, the main theatre of current clashes in the 33-month-old war.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine replaces commander amid Russian advance on key city

Ukraine’s military leadership has changed the commander of the Donetsk tactical group amid Russia’s continued advance toward the city of Pokrovsk in southwestern Donbass. The replacement of General Alexander Lutsenko was announced on Friday by Ukrainian MP Mariana Bezuglaya on Telegram.

Pokrovsk (also known as Krasnoarmeysk) is the largest population center under Ukrainian control in the west of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). It has gone from a major supply hub for the frontline forts to being on the front line itself.

General Alexander Tarnavsky, who participated in the “failed southern counteroffensive in 2023” will be taking his place, Bezuglaya revealed. The general commanded the Ukrainian forces operating in the city of Avdeevka when Russian forces captured it. Tarnavsky claimed the chaotic retreat of Ukrainian forces from Avdeevka was in fact going according to plan.

The co-chairman of the council on integrating Russia’s new territories, Vladimir Rogov, connected the change of commander with the difficult situation for the Ukrainian troops. “The urgent change of the commander…is symbolic, the enemy directly points to the disastrous and difficult situation on the Pokrovsk and Kurakhovo directions,” he commented, analyzing the incident for news agency RIA.

In the past 24 hours, Russian troops have liberated two villages in the DPR: Vesely Gai, located ten kilometers south of Kurakhovo, and Pushkino, 15 kilometers south of Pokrovsk. Kurakhovo is heavily fortified by Ukrainian forces and remains one of the last few major populated areas they control in southwestern Donbass. Pokrovsk is about 30 kilometers north of Kurakhovo. Last month, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky referred to these areas as “the most difficult” for Ukrainian forces.

Back in November one Ukrainian commander told CNN that troops on the Pokrovsk front have been told to shoot unidentified persons on sight, fearful of Russian patrols infiltrating the sparsely held line. Another one told the outlet that only about 60 soldiers defended the key town of Selidovo when Russian forces took it last month.

Reuters/RT