Belarusian railway saboteurs did not want to kill anyone – they just wanted to stop the aggressor.
When Russian troops planned to invade the Belarusian border in Ukraine, they were counting on a lightning attack on Kyiv . They were confident that the region's large rail network would help provide timely logistics, ammunition and reinforcements, according to The Washington Post. Since the first days of the invasion in February, a secret network of railway workers, as well as opposition security forces, has been working to disrupt Russia's rail links with Ukraine through Belarus . Their activities helped cut off the aggressor from supply.
The “rail war” organized by Belarusian dissidents has attracted little attention amid a bloody massacre in Ukraine by the Russian occupiers. ” But its role in creating chaos in the supply of the aggressor should not be underestimated. Thanks in large part to them, Russian troops were left without food, fuel and ammunition for several days after the invasion of Ukraine.
Oleksandr Kamyshyn, head of the Ukrainian Railways, thanked the Belarusian saboteurs. “These are brave and honest people who helped us,” he said.
According to members of the saboteur network, the attacks were simple but effective. Their goal was management control units. For several days, train traffic was paralyzed, forcing the Russians to stop the infamous 40-mile military convoy north of Kyiv.
How much chaos in the echelons of Russian aggressors can be attributed to sabotage, and how much poor logistics planning, it is difficult to estimate, says a researcher at the Royal United Institute of the United Services, Emily Ferris. But without automatic alarms, trains were forced to travel at tortoiseshell speeds, and rail capacity was very low. “She said.
The sabotage attacks also gave the Ukrainian military time to prepare an effective response to the Russian invasion.
“I can't say we were the most important factor, but we were an important brick in the wall,” said one of the organizers of the sabotage on the railways.
Belarus, when their grandfathers and great-grandfathers opposed the Nazi occupation during World War II. They blew up the railway tracks to disrupt German supply channels. The railway war was presented in history textbooks as the most successful guerrilla tactic that helped expel the Germans.
Eight decades later, the Russian army's presence in Belarus has also aroused opposition from opposition Belarusians, says Hanna Lyubakova, a journalist living in exile in Lithuania.
Modern guerrillas did not want casualties. They focused on damaging the equipment to disrupt the railways.
“We didn't want to kill anyone. We used a peaceful way to stop them, “said one Belarusian guerrilla.
Read also: Arestovich calls for” rail war “in Belarus – Prosecutor General's Office opens criminal case against him
Many who expected Ukrainians to tremble at Russian force and a collaborating government to carry out the will of dictator Putin. But in reality, even cynical Russians have failed to create a puppet regime, the Western press wrote. The main reason is that all analysts consider the incredible fighting and patriotic spirit of Ukrainians , which Putin did not expect …. But the role of silent sabotage of Belarusian railways can not be denied.
