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An Ukrainian soldier holds an anti-tank launcher at a frontline, northeast of Kyiv on March 3, 2022. Ukrainians Kill 'High-Ranking' Soldiers, Blow Up Russian Train: ReportsRIS MESSINIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Ukrainian forces blew up a Russian armored train that they said was carrying personnel in the occupied city of Melitopol on Wednesday, according to Ukrainian officials.
The day before, guerrillas in
Melitopol claimed they "eliminated high-ranking Russian servicemen,"
according to Ukraine's Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration. The
administration, which shared the findings in a Telegram post on Tuesday, did not specify how and how many
of the Russian servicemen were purportedly killed. It also did not identify any
of the servicemen by name.
Newsweek reached
out to Russia's Defense Ministry for confirmation on the Melitopol train
explosion and the killed Russian servicemen.
The armored train attack and
the deaths of Russian servicemen would be some of the newest indications of the
Ukrainian counteroffensive's progress in the Russia-Ukraine War. Ukrainian military officials
shared a video Wednesday that they said showed Ukrainian troops
destroying a Russian BMP tank and blasting Russian soldiers, while Ukraine's 45th Air Assault
Brigade said earlier this week that its soldiers had bombed a
Russian ammo depot and armored vehicles.
Both Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser at Ukraine's Ministry of
Internal Affairs, and Ivan Fedorov, the elected mayor of Melitopol, posted on
social media that Ukrainian forces blew up the armored Russian train.
Gerashchenko said in a Twitter post Wednesday that an explosive charge detonated
under a train car carrying Russian personnel.
"The
railway track are damaged, a number of casualties and fatalities is now being
specified," a translated version of the post read.
Gerashchenko
also shared a photo of what appeared to be the targeted train, though no
extensive damage was immediately visible in the picture.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) May 18, 2022
Fedorov
also briefly mentioned the explosion in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
"Melitopol partisans together with Ukrainian special
services carried out a remote detonation of an armored train of the Russian
occupiers," the post stated, according to a translation.
As for the deaths of the high-ranking Russian servicemen, the
Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration alleged in the Telegram post that
Russia is now trying to "hide" this development from public view.
Members of the Russian military in Melitopol intensified inspections of private
vehicles, the administration said, speculating that they were searching for
guerrillas.
Melitopol
is located in southeastern Ukraine and was captured by Russian forces in the
early days of the war. Fedorov, the city's mayor, was captured by Russian
forces in March but later returned to his duties after residents of the city
and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded his release.
Newsweek reached
out to the defense ministries of Russia and Ukraine for comment.
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