(Dan Tri) – Ukraine is said to have launched guerrilla tactics, targeting Russia’s `backbone` railway lines when the war situation fell into a deadlock.

A photo released by Russia in December 2023 shows a train derailing in the Ryazan region, Russia.

On November 29, 2023, saboteurs placed four explosives on a Russian train carrying jet fuel and diesel, about 4,800km from the Ukrainian border.

These subjects wanted the train to explode while 50 carriages were moving through a tunnel more than 14km long through the Severomuysky Mountains.

At 5:20 p.m., the fire tore through the tunnel.

According to the New York Times, Ukraine hopes to destroy an important route that Kiev believes is used to transport weapons from North Korea to Russia, at a time when Ukrainian forces in the field are struggling to prevent

Trains can be replaced and tracks can be repaired quickly.

A second explosion on a nearby replacement railway occurred within 48 hours.

Russia and Ukraine continue to fight on a large scale, with both ground attacks and air strikes.

However, guerrilla tactics, including sabotage, raids, and blowing up ammunition depots, oil pipelines, and railways, became more important as the two sides failed to make progress

`The war in Ukraine is changing as Ukraine increases the number of guerrilla operations against Russian forces and reduces conventional combat operations,` said Seth G. Jones, an analyst at the National Center for Strategic Studies.

The National Resistance Center of Ukraine, a unit established by the Ukrainian army to train and coordinate networks in Russian-controlled territories, said Russia was mobilizing more and more elite forces to eliminate

Ukrainian guerrillas claimed to have blown up a freight train on December 15, 2023 while the train was transporting ammunition and fuel from Crimea, an area controlled by Russia, to Melitopol in southern Ukraine.

Russian armored vehicles loaded onto train cars near the Russia-Ukraine border (Photo: AP).

Previous attacks on railway lines beyond the Ural Mountains, a natural barrier that keeps much of Russia’s critical military infrastructure safe from enemy attacks, have exposed

While Ukrainian officials usually rarely speak out publicly about offensive operations within Russia, this time they want the Kremlin to know who is behind the attacks.

`Russian agencies should get used to the fact that our people are everywhere,` a senior official of Ukraine’s intelligence service (SBU) said after the attack on the fifth railway line.

The Russian security agency (FSB) immediately announced the arrest of two people suspected of being involved in a number of Kiev attacks, including one person who the FSB said planted a mine on the ship and exploded during the attack.

Russia’s railway agency claims 120 workers cleared the tunnel within days and rail travel has returned to normal.

Railways are very important for both Russia and Ukraine because they were designed to be the backbone of the Soviet-era logistics system.

`This is something that has preoccupied Russia for more than a century: How to ensure the safety of these long and vulnerable railway lines,` Ms. Ferris said.

There are currently two railway lines that cover the vast expanse of Russia: the Trans-Siberian line, which stretches 9,200km from Vladivostok to Moscow, and the newer Baikal-Amur line, which runs from the near-Pacific region for 4,100km before connecting

These are also railway lines connecting Russia with China.

Meanwhile, the interconnected railway systems of Russia and Belarus have facilitated the rapid movement of military personnel and equipment between the two countries, allowing Belarus to serve as a `springboard` for war.

Expert Ferris said that attacks on the railway network increased Russia’s logistical difficulties in the early days of the war and contributed to Moscow’s failure in the offensive campaign against Kiev.

In November 2023, British military intelligence confirmed: `17 months after the first incident was reported, Russian railway sabotage continues to pose a significant challenge to Russian authorities.`

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said late last month that its agents were targeting railway infrastructure across Russia, claiming responsibility for a series of fires that destroyed railway facilities.